


The intriguing tale of Bluma Schulz

by cgps



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:09:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29504607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cgps/pseuds/cgps
Summary: Professor Quirrell, are we going to learn dark magic?Quirrell dove under the desk-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Bluma Schulz, a dark witch specialising in blood magic is close to dying, but develops a ritual to send her consciousness to a new host of her choosing. Choosing to kidnap a random muggleborn, she ends up with harry potter, and has to go to Hogwarts. Read how a dark witch in her new body traverses Hogwarts.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. The ritual

Bluma Schulz was not a nice woman. She wasn’t able to instil fear into the hearts of those that dared to cross her without becoming vicious, but it was not her viciousness that was special, she was a witch. Not a very kind witch, in fact a very dark witch, but a witch nonetheless. However, one thing that was kept secret, was that she was dying. No healer, mediwitch or doctor was able to cure her illness, and in a few weeks she would be dead anyways.

Determined not to let a silly condition such as death stop her, Bluma sought out a unique form of immortality. While most methods of immortality either kept the body healthy, or transformed the wizard into a hateful and slightly insane wraith (like the insane dark wraith she encountered in Egypt while robbing a tomb), there were yet no methods to transfer the consciousness into another body. Theoretically though, the transfer of consciousness should have been easier, as there were some analogous rituals transferring skills or curses. But first, she needed to find a young body.

Bluma grimaced as she trudged invisibly through another alley. Little whining was really a boring place. Every house looked exactly the same, every blade of grass in the correct position. Truly, there was nothing unique about any house on the block. Really, it would have been more fun to sneak into the wizarding school to kidnap someone, but the possibility of being capture was too great. Living as a wanted criminal wasn’t very easy.

Her musings were brought short when some chubby kids raced after a twig, going into a dead alleyway. No, not a twig, a poor kid, she noticed. Well, he was probably caught, no big deal. However, just as she was about to leave, a familiar POP sounded inside the alley.  
Her heart racing, Bluma quickly started weaving protective wards with her wand, sure that the aurors must have found her. It would surely mean imprisonment for her. She became confused when no-one came out. Maybe it was an ambush?

  
Wand out, ready to kill, Bluma set out, peering into the alleyway. The kids were clustered looking for the kid, which was nowhere to be seen. Bluma felt her hopes get up. Maybe it was a muggleborn doing accidental magic? Muggleborns were the perfect candidates for her ritual, as no-one important would miss them. In the corner of her vision, she saw a flicker, and saw that the little kid was on the roof, looking terrified. Perfect

Apparating to the roof, she surprised the kid with a muffled POP sound, who then whirled around in fear, and then confusion seeing her on the roof.  
“Hello, little kid. What’s your name” she asked while slowly walking forwards, as to not alarm him. It would have been easier to just kidnap him, but another burst of accidental magic might alert the aurors to their location.  
“Um, Harry, ma’am?” “How did we end up here?”

  
Poor boy, clearly terrified, with a scar on his forehead. “Well, come with me and I will explain everything to you” Bluma demanded him.  
“But, Ma’am how are we gonna get down?”  
“Well, probably the same we came up. Hold my hand” Bluma asked in the sweetest voice possible. She wasn’t very good with kids.  
Bluma apparated the moment the twig – harry touched her arm, to her secret safe-house near London. She waited patiently as harry wheezed while trying to catch his breath. Only then he noticed that they weren’t in the same place as they left, in fact, he didn’t recognise the place at all. Harry saw a flicker of red and then everything went black.

Bluma sighed in relief as the body went limp. One thing less to worry about, as rituals were particularly dangerous to external factors and a child running around screaming would definitely cause issues. There was already much research done into transferring magic and skills, although it was clear that magic could not be transferred, otherwise all the purebloods would have killed all the muggle-borns. Basing off that research, it was slightly easier to construct a consciousness-transferring ritual, and used some exotic materials, which were thankfully easier to procure in the muggle world. Bluma spent nearly a week getting the materials and imperiusing muggles, and stunning the boy when he would be close to waking.

The ritual room was the remodelled basement, with three big intersecting circles of runes covering almost the whole floor, and two smaller circles in the middle of all three. Bluma carried the boy into one of the smaller circles, careful not to disturb the runes. Standing in the second small circle, bluma used a pure iron knife to cut across her palms, and smear her blood on top of harry’s face, who still remained unconscious.

“mens mea ad mentem”  
“meae cogitationes vestrae”

  
“mens mea ad mentem”  
“meae cogitationes vestrae”

  
“mens mea ad mentem”  
“meae cogitationes vestrae” - she intoned, and then slit her throat with one hand, her other on the boy’s head.  
Then, an excruciating pain started and saw a bit of black liquid, before she fell unconscious.

*NOTE:

see if you can guess from where “mens mea ad mentem”,“meae cogitationes vestrae” comes from.

*HINT:

try translating it into English

Waking up in a new body is a unique experience. The chronic pain that plagued her was gone, at least that was a plus. Her, or now his, eyelids felt like cement, but she managed to open them, only to start blinking when everything seemed blurry. Everything felt bigger, and her limbs were of different lengths. Bluma barely managed to stand up before she fell again. Ugh, it would take a lot of time getting used to the new body, but now she had a strange new feeling of pure joyfulness and proudness of her accomplishment. The ritual worked perfectly.

Bluma started working on her occlumency to pass the time, and frowned in confusion, as there were some disjointed memories. That was probably from the kid, she mused, and set to work cataloguing and storing her new memories.

  
After a couple of hours of sorting through the few new memories, Bluma felt ready to start exploring her new body. Moving a finger after another, she slowly felt herself acclimatising to the new body. Ready to grab her old wand, she reached across to grab it, and fell flat on her face. The body had different weight distribution as well.

It took a week before Bluma felt confident in the new body to walk and run and do things manually. In that time, she absorbed some few memories. Luckily it was the holidays, and the school wouldn’t notice her absence. Her relatives would be easy to fix with an obliviate. Her wand response also felt ‘off’, and while she could do magic, the wand developed a ‘resistance’ to her. She would need to get a new wand soon (unmonitored and untraceable). Her new body was apparently had quite strong magic, much more than when she had been little, and was probably an average of her and his magics.  
Apparently the new body was called “harry potter” (what a weird name, in her opinion, the only real names were German) and lived in 4 privet drive.

Deciding to return temporarily to his home, Bluma stepped out of her warded apartment and took a vaguely familiar route to her new home. She just crossed the street block when her hairs on her neck stood up. Wards. Did the aurors find her? Bluma ran and hid in the bushes. Taking out her old wand, she muttered some diagnostics at the wards. There were some alarms triggered by wizards coming in, anti-scrying charms, and a very powerful blood ward covering the entire block, tied to....her?

  
Blood wards were very powerful magics, and tricky to install. This meant she was not an ordinary muggle-born. Damn, and here go the hopes of going unnoticed. This meant that people would be looking for her if she disappeared. However, there was something off about the blood wards. They shouldn’t be covering the entire block, and it clearly showed with their weakness. Fortunately, Bluma was a master in dark magic, and especially blood magic, and no-one turned down a free blood-ward.

Bluma waved her wand and conjured a silver knife. She then cut her palms, letting the blood flow freely, muttered some incantations and then clasped her hands to her heart. The ground shook for a moment beneath her before she felt the blood ward coming into her and closing around her. She felt a huge pain and scream from her scar before she blacked out.

She woke a couple of minutes later. Her head hurt, but strangely she now felt no pain from her scar. She whipped out her wand and muttered a diagnostic at her scar, which now appeared less inflamed. Residuals of dark magic? Why would a scar contain so much dark magic? It had contained roughly the same darkness as a fellow necromancer she once met.

She memorised her readings in case she needed them again, before continuing. She now could feel the blood wards close to her. They were so powerful that she suspected some ritual and willing sacrifice, which now protected her against all threats. But why didn’t they work against me when I transferred my consciousness, and why did they only now destroy the dark magic in my scar? -she thought. Maybe the wards didn’t consider a transfer of consciousness any harm and therefore allowed it? Doubtful, but it was the most likely explanation.

In an office in Scottland, a puffing machine changed the colour of the smoke, and increased the readings of protection. Albus Dumbledore looked in confusion at the device. The smoke shouldn’t change colour, but the protection still held, even better than before. Just to be cautious, he would tell his friend Arabella Figgs to check up on the little boy, and see if she noticed something suspicious.

Bluma walked calmly to her home. She didn’t understand the little bit of fear the boy had of his relatives. She would just petrify them and obliviate them. Much easier to deal with them this way rather than draw suspicion onto her. The door magically opened with a non-verbal unlocking charm, and she stared into the beady eyes of her ‘uncle’ before she confunded him inside.  
“Vernon, who’s at the door?” she heard her ‘aunt’ ask, before seeing her, her face becoming filled with fury and a bit of fear.  
Nonetheless, Bluma petrified them both, before going upstairs to Dudley’s second bedroom. Surely no-one would miss the bedroom, especially after a couple of notice-me-not wards. Transfiguring some junk into a normal bed, and vanishing the rest. She transfigured a bit of junk into a toilet, shower and sink and walls surrounding it. She never did have much valuables and was taught to value simplicity by her parents. Any money she earned from her jobs would go toward buying books, as she was first and foremost an academic.

Using her silver knife she drew some runes of protection, alarm, and unnotice on the door and walls, before powering them by cutting her finger and smearing some blood on them. While she could charge the runes using her wand, they would not last a long time and would have to be recharged, while blood magic was very powerful in that regards. After finishing them, she obliviated her uncle, aunt and cousin, making them believe that they were paid handsomely for her care (duplication charms on pounds) and was taken away.

Using her blood reminded her that she would have to apply all her personal wards again: wards against using her blood and any other body parts in rituals, wards against using her signature etc. She would need to conduct a couple of rituals for that. Another problem was her body. Specifically, it was male, and while Bluma didn’t have anything against males, she lived her whole life as female, and was used to it. Unfortunately the ritual was a sacrificial kind, and she had to buy some cats to later kill. Additionally, her eyesight was really poor, but there was nothing that could be done. Those rituals didn’t exist.  
Luckily, she had time before she had to attend muggle school. Maybe she could get moved up a couple of grades?

The rituals (all except the gender swap) were very simple to make, but were extremely time-consuming. A circle would need to be filled with tiny runes for just one ritual, meticulously drawn by hand for each ritual. It took days of gruelling work drawing each rune, one by one, for her rituals. The rituals themselves were really easy. Power the runes (this time without using blood, as it would contaminate them), and sit inside the circle for a long while.


	2. Going to Hogwarts

She finished just a couple of days before school started. As the school didn’t know of her new status, she engraved a ring with appearance altering illusions to look exactly the same. She asked to speak to some teachers, and confounded them into thinking she was a prodigy and that her uncle and aunt approved. She managed to make the teachers transfer her from 4th grade into 7th grade, where she once again, studied the whole course content rigorously for a couple of weeks non-stop.

Even if it was not magic, knowledge was still knowledge, and some mathematical methods were really worth learning. However, it was in a science lab that she found her passion.  
Chemistry and Physics were just as fun as spell creation and magical theory. She didn’t know how so many missed out on this opportunity. She head was now filled with applications of her muggle knowledge in magic.

Unable to make gold? Bombard smaller atoms with super-accellerated protons, while shielding from the intense radiation. Unable to see through invisibility cloaks? Try the infrared spectrum or use lasers. Not know about magical theory? Find analogies in other types of energy.

The teachers were really impressed with her dedication and commitment that they once again bumped up her grades. It wasn’t really fair, as she was an adult and could concentrate better, with the added benefit of having a kid’s brain, with something called ‘neuroplasticity’. (she only recently started studying the brain). Studying the eye, she came across a novel muggle method of treating myopia. The muggles used some lasers to try to correct the shape of the lens, but having magic, she was able to design a needle that would enter her lens and adjust it magically.

She waited until the weekend to try it, and spent the next two days crying as a terrible itchiness spread across her eyes. She had to miss a couple of days of school by being sick, but when the itchiness stopped, she found that she could see much clearly.

Halfway through her body’s 10th birthday she found out the new and exciting field of quantum mechanics. There was so much that even muggles didn’t understand, and everything could relate back to some theories of magic. This is when she decided that she would become a particle physicist and no one would stop her. She was so focused in studying that she forgot all about the magic school, and it was a huge surprise to find a letter on her desk, addressed to Harry Potter.

The school was apparently named Hogwarts? What a weird name, but unfortunately it was necessary for her to go there. Her blood wards were hitting a new level of protection every day, due to her feeding it her magic all the time. For witches and wizards, it was important to use their magic actively, to become stronger magically, and for young children to practice their control, to not have accidental magic. Her already powerful blood wards increased leaps and bounds in protection, and Bluma thought that they might even stop unforgivables.

Unfortunately, her contact with the British magical world was minimum, and she really needed the information, so she picked up her pen (a much better invention than quills) and sent a reply to Ms McGonnagle asking for more information on the school and magical world in general.  
She received a reply three days later that someone would come to pick her up and introduce her to the magical world.

A couple of days later, she stood on the front porch and waited for the professor to take her. A man with black clothing and with a hooked nose approached her. Are you Mr Potter? - he asked  
“Yes, good morning. I assume you’re here about the response i sent?” - She replied.  
“Correct. My name is professor Snape and i will introduce you to the magical world.”  
He went around the back of the house, before sticking his arm out, which Bluma grabbed, before being pulled into a side-along apparition into a occluded street corner.

“Diagon alley can be accessed from Charing Cross through the leaky cauldron. It is where the school supplies are bought. Facing this brick wall, you need to tap these bricks in order to get access. We will first withdraw money from your vault in Gringotts, the magical bank. Here is your key, and don’t lose it.”

  
Bluma was surprised at Diagon alley. There were many people selling and buying. Her having a vault further cemented her suspicion of being someone important in the Wizarding world. She asked a couple of questions regarding the monetary system, which were promptly answered.

Professor Snape then took her down to the vault, in which lay mountains of gold. Bluma’s mouth dropped at the sight. She never accumulated so much valuables in her adult life, and giving it to a child would be a bad idea. Professor Snape also seemed shocked at the sight of so much gold, but also clenched his teeth, looking furious. “Sir, is this a lot of money, or is the inflation rate this high?” -She asked  
“This is quite an amount, Mr Potter”  
“Comparable to paying for hogwarts? Or buying a car? Or more?”  
“You could comfortably live your life a couple of times over with this money” - the professor replied  
“What should I do with the rest? Do any charities exist in the Wizarding world?”

It was the goblin that interjected.  
“There are a number of charities, and Gringotts would gladly work with you in your business transactions.”  
“Fantastic. I would like that half the money in this vault be donated to charities over the course of 10 years, in which I would have a stable income and provide more. Is this doable?”  
“Yes, We will draw up a contract and send it to you by mail. We will start working on it as soon as the contract is finalised.”  
This pacified the anger in professor Snape. He might have preconceptions about my behaviour but apparently I proved him wrong.

We shopped for books, potions ingredients and clothes without any interruptions, until a boy with pale blond hair started talking to him about some broomsticks or something, with Bluma politely nodding along. He then asked Bluma where were her parents, to which she replied “sleeping in a graveyard”. It took the boy a couple of seconds to figure it out. “But they were our kind weren't they?”  
“No, they were not blondes, do I look like a blonde to you?”  
“No, as in were they wizards?”

“Of course not, I wouldn’t sully myself to be a filthy little pureblood. They are so stupid aren’t they? They can’t even spell their own names. If I were a pureblood I'd rather die of shame wouldn’t you?”  
the blonde started spluttering. “Hey, do you even know who I am?”  
“By the stupidity of your statement, you obviously are a filthy little pureblood, not even fit to lick my shoes” Bluma said with such scorn, especially the word pureblood that it sounded just as insulting as mudblood.

Their quarrel was broken up by madam Malkins finishing up the boy, who promptly ran away, probably to his parents. Unbeknownst to Bluma, the words would keep repeating in Draco’s head, filling him with self-doubt about being a pureblood.

Going to Olliviander’s was an interesting experience. Every wandmaker had their own quirks, and Olliviander was no exception. They tried wand after wand, but all were snatched away quickly.  
“I wonder, I wonder” started Olliviander, and handed him a holly with phoenix feather. Just like the other wands, a vase shattered. Olliviander looked as is someone killed his puppy. Oh well, time for other wands.

Eventually, after many more wands, came a completely black ebony and hungarian horntail, 12 inches, springy wand. The moment Bluma touched it bright sparks shone out. It was an amazing fit, much better than her old wand she was using. Professor Snape warned her not to go into Knocturn alley, before escorting her home, the same way as they came.  
The moment professor Snape dissapparated, so did Bluma, but this time, destination: Knocturn alley.

In all fairness, Knocturn alley wasn’t such a bad place. Sure, it had some crooks and sold dark artefacts, but most people weren’t really bad.  
“Hello dearie, would you like some meat pies?” - asked a hag in a stall. It was quite a while since Bluma had breakfast, so she decided to try them. They were really quite nice.  
“These are very nice, Miss. Your cooking skills are superb.”  
“Call me Catalina. We don’t get many polite gentlemen around here”  
Bluma looked around a bit more, before stumbling into some brute, who asked her for her money.  
Bluma had to kill the mugger with a quick cut to the carotid artery (benefits of learning anatomy) and delivered him to Catalina.  
“I bought you some fresh ingredients. My … wand slipped” - she told her

Bluma spent a couple of days exploring Knocturn alley, and found some an amazing cafe, which apparently sold coffee straight from Colombia. It was there she started an interesting discussion about the benefits of blood magic from different body parts with a hooded figure, whom she suspected to be a vampire. Apparently satisfied with her knowledge, the vampire recommended her some reading material.  
“If you want some real books, not the ministry-approved dogma, I recommend you the Necro library. Tell the owner that the Vulture recommended you.”  
The Necro library was a blast. It had so many interesting books that Bluma almost filled her trunk (which she personally warded with blood runes) with books.

  
It was in a particularly dark alley that she bumped into the person she least hoped to see. Professor Snape. He looked shocked at the sight of her, before furiously grabbing her arm.  
“What are you doing here? Idiot boy. It’s dangerous here”- he furiously hissed.  
“Don’t worry professor Snape, it’s not that bad. The locals here are quite friendly. Besides, where else would I find these interesting books?” Bluma cheerfully said, showing him her new acquisitions.  
And indeed, her ‘shopping cart’ was filled with all sorts of books. Books on rituals, dark magic, blood magic, demonology, elemental magic and many more. Snape’s face whitened at the sight of each book.

“We are going to the headmaster, right now”  
It took quite a while as she knew most people in the alley, who all wanted to stop and chat.

Snape took me to the apparition point, and then to a little village.  
“Where are we, Professor?” she asked  
“We are going to Hogwarts, to speak to the headmaster.”  
“Why would the headmaster have anything to do with me going to the library?”  
“The headmaster is responsible for your safety, especially considering your fame.”  
“Fame?” She interrupted.  
Snape facepalmed. “The headmaster will explain everything later”

All in all, Hogwarts was a very nice castle. It was bigger than Durmstrang and was very ‘magical’ in appearance.  
Professor Snape took Bluma up to the Headmaster’s quarters, and said a password in a soft voice. The gargoyle guarding it revolved, allowing access to them. The door opened before them, and a gentle voice rang out.  
“Good morning, Severus, and may I ask, why is Harry Potter here with you?”

The Headmaster’s office was filled with trinkets. There were trinkets on the table, trinkets on the shelves, trinkets on the floor. Some trinkets were working, but most were off or broken. The magical machines were EVERYWHERE, including one that was stuck to the roof.

On a perch sat a magnificent golden bird, as large as a toucan, who slept with it’s head stuck in it’s wings. Even the perch was not exempt from the trinkets, as a twirling little paper gently spinned beneath it. There were some moving portraits stuck to the walls, and even more trinkets hanging from the wall.

The underside of the desk also had some pictures and a rubics cube, who was spinning by itself. Some books were levitating in the air, carrying other books to shelves and back. The headmaster was truly a collector of everything.

  
“I found this … boy, coming out of the Necro library, in Knocrurn alley, headmaster.”  
The headmaster raised an eyebrow. “The one that got raided three times last year by aurors?”  
“Yes. He was buying books of… questionable legality”  
The headmaster looked at Harry (Bluma).  
“And you, my boy, what do you have to say for yourself?”  
“I didn’t know that Professor Snape would also go there. If i’d known, I would not have gone there that day. I didn’t know that being seen with me in Knocrurn alley would cause such a fuss.”- Bluma replied, confused at all the drama. It wasn’t as if she murdered someone, so what was it all about?

“My boy, Knocturn alley is a very dangerous place, especially for young kids like yourself.”  
“Don’t worry. It’s not that bad, headmaster. It really a friendly place once you get to know the locals, just a bit dirty. I mean, people only tried to mug me once, and my friend catalina even got new ingredients for her meat pies. In any case, shouldn’t this be a discussion with my guardians?”  
“Don’t you even know who he is” hissed Professor Snape  
“Of course, he’s the headmaster.”  
“And...” - continued Professor Snape  
The headmaster held up a hand. “It seems that I forgot to introduce myself. Good morning, My name is Albus Dumbledore”  
“Wow. Really? As in the defeater of Grindelwald?” - Bluma interrupted with enthusiasm.  
“Yes, but it is a tale for another time. I cannot let you go back to your guardians, given that you came to Knocturn alley. Instead, you will be staying at Hogwarts.”  
“Oh, OK. Is the accommodation free? Then yes, of course.”  
“Of course. In any case, Professor Snape can show you your temporary quarters, but you will need to travel to platform 9 ¾ for the Hogwarts Express.”

Professor Snape showed Bluma to her new quarters, which were quite nice, to be honest. Even better than her quarters at home. She apologised to him for delaying him, who quickly left with a incredulous look.

Apparently wands in Britain had some sort of Trace, to prevent kids from breaking the statue of secrecy, which would be problematic to Bluma. Muttering diagnostics with her old wand, revealed that the new wand did have some spells. But were not yet activated. This was probably done so that the wands in Olliviander’s didn’t trigger the Trace every time they were tried. To remove the Trace, Bluma created a purifying potion and let the wand soak in it for a day, by which time the Trace was removed.

Bluma spent the last few days before the term started in the library. Some quick hidden runes allowed her to bypass all the wards to get into the restricted section, where she found many many interesting books. They were not particularly dark, but nonetheless could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

It was Mr Hagrid, that got around to telling her about her fame. He told her how some dark wizard called yuno hu (asian in her opinion) terrorised Britain. In her opinion, it was quite ironic that wizards feared this Mr hu guy, and thought he was the most terrible dark lord ever to roam the earth, when Bluma knew for a fact that Grindelwald was many times more powerful, had a huge army, and yet he apparently wasn’t so terrible as Mr Hu. But then again, Grindelwald was based in central Europe, and all the other dark lords (who were much more terrible than Mr Hu) did not live in the population’s lifetime.

Apparently, she was the sole survivor of the fateful night on Halloween amd rebounded the killing curse onto Mr Hu instead. While in her previous life, she would have thought it impossible, due to her new understanding of physics, she now had a leading theory, that there was a magical artefact in the room, that destructively interfered with the killing curse, which, being more powerful than it, sent another killing curse back. Although her theory had yet to have proof, it was much more believable than her having a ‘special power’ of rebounding killing curses.

*NOTE:

Bluma misheard / misunderstood you-know-who to be yuno hu, and decided that his name was Mr Hu.


	3. Class

The start of term arrived with great trepidation. Bluma had to floo onto platform 9 ¾ and take the Hogwarts Express back again. It seemed counter-intuitive, but Bluma suspected that the charms of her wand would have activated on the train (if Bluma hadn’t removed them, of course). The train had a steam engine, and looked to be quite old (even in pristine condition). The station was packed with people, and Bluma had to restrain from hexing them out of her way. Eventually she found an empty compartment, and lifted her trunk up onto the rack. Even though she had worked out a bit, an eleven-year old body isn’t very strong. She picked up her newly bought book on blood rituals and started reading.

She was first interrupted by a red-headed boy, who asked if he could sit with her. She allowed him after he promised to be quiet. The lady selling candy interrupted them later, and both politely declined. Bluma because she (as an adult) didn’t really have a sweet tooth, and the boy (named Ron apparently) because he didn’t have enough money.

They were again interrupted by a bushy-haired girl

“Hello. Have you seen a toad? Neville’s lost his”

Bluma took out her wand. _Accio neville’s toad_ , and a green blur streaked across the aisle, before dropping into her hand. “I believe we have seen it.”

“Thank you. What was that spell? I haven’t learned it yet. It must be so useful. I only found out I had magic a month ago, and read all the course books.”She continued “What house do you want to be in? I am aiming for Griffindor. I heard that’s Dumbledore’s old house, and he’s the greatest wizard alive”she rambled

“wait, wait, wait. Slower please. Nice to meet you too. The spell is _accio_ , it’s in the fourth year syllabus even though it’s really simple.

I am probably going to go into Ravenclaw because I am a scholar mostly, and probably you will as well, as you read all the course books. Why would you aim for Dumbledore’s old house? Sure, he might be great right now, but a hundred years ago the greatest wizard was Newt Scamander, who didn’t even go to Hogwarts, and before that was a Ravenclaw I believe, and even before that it was a Slytherin.

In other words, just because Dumbledore’s popular right now, doesn’t mean that the next greatest wizard would be a Griffindor. The two events are independent of each other, and as you would have learnt from statistics, they don’t influence one another.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense. So you think I'll fit into Ravenclaw?”

“probably” Bluma guessed. “In any case, the house you’re in doesn’t matter. You’re not going to magically become better by going into a house. Only you can do that. By the way, you still haven’t told us your name.”

“Oh. Sorry. Where are my manners. I’m Hermione Granger. Pleased to meet you.”

“I’m Ron, nice to meet you too.”

“And I’m Harry. Pleased to meet you.”

“By the way, what book are you reading?” she asked Bluma

“Oh. it’s called 100 deadly blood curses, by Jonathan Greengrass. it’s about blood rituals. It’s quite fascinating”

“Blood rituals! Are you crazy! it’s dark magic!” interrupted Ron

“No, technically it’s blood magic, not dark magic, unless you’ve got your reds and blacks mixed up. In any case, what’s wrong with dark magic?”

“It’s evil. it’s wrong. it’s really bad stuff, mate”

Bluma raised an eyebrow. “I bet you wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference between a regular spell and a dark spell. The spells don’t change colour because of dark magic.”

“It’s still dark magic” - argued Ron

“So? Stealing is also wrong and really bad, and muggles do it without dark magic. In any case, it’s really not worth arguing about if spells are dark or light or blue or even orange. We should be arguing about the cause of them. Someone stealing with light magic is equally bad as stealing with dark magic.”

“I’ll give this toad to Neville, and come right back. It’s really interesting, all of this.”

Hermione did come back later, and the two had an interesting discussion about magical theory. The blond boy from Diagon alley showed up, reddened at the sight of her and quickly left. He was probably too embarrassed to come and have another argument.

It was night-time by the time they reached Hogsmead. Bluma wandlessly summoned a ball of fire (much to the delight of the other first-years, who could now see better) and set off walking to the lake, being leaded by Mr Hagrid. Bluma refused to call Mr Hagrid anything else, as he was technically still a teacher and should behave professionally.

They were made to stand outside the great hall, where some ghosts passed by. Several different experiments ran through her mind trying to analyse the incorporality of them. Would it be possible to phase through solid objects? Could ghosts develop new memories. If so, would they count as a living being?

The sorting was long and tedious. It was no fun to watch people sitting on stools with some hat on their heads (which was probably filled with lice). She almost fell asleep, only to jerk her head up when “Potter, Harry” was called.

The hat was placed on her head (cleaned with a mild wand-less cleaning charm) when suddenly she heard a voice.

“Well, this is interesting. Isn’t it, Bluma?”

Bluma nearly gasped in shock. Well, it would be easy to burn the hat to a crisp if it chose to divulge her secrets.

“No need to worry, I’m spelled to not tell anything”

Bluma still wasn’t convinced. It wasn’t as if the ‘source code’ of the hat was available. Was it?

In any case, Bluma started thinking about how to mentally talk to people. It would be difficult to reverse-engineer the enchantments…

“Well, I know just where to put you.”

“Ravenclaw”

Bluma sat down next to Hermione, who had also been placed in Ravenclaw. She looked towards the professor’s table, professor Quirrell, apparently was the new professor, while all the others taught at Hogwarts for a long time. Briefly, she felt a powerful mental attack, before it got repelled by her blood wards. It was nice to know that her blood wards covered mental attacks as well. In any case, Bluma decided to keep feeding them power. She briefly noticed a tiny bit of smoke coming out of Quirrell’s turban. How odd.

It wasn’t long before they were sent off to bed. The door knocker had some riddle.

“The poor have it, the rich don’t need it, and if you eat it you’ll die”

to which Bluma responded “A large number of bacteria and viruses that are commonly found in unclean water supplies. Many of them are lethal.”

People looked at her in shock.

“Well, that technically answers the riddle, although the expected answer was different. I’ll let you pass”

And so, with that ended Bluma’s first proper day at Hogwarts.

Next morning at breakfast, Bluma again sat next to Hermione, and both were given their schedules. First off: Potions

Bluma helped her classmates find the dungeons (benefits of exploring for a couple of days), and waited for the Professor to show up. It seemed that the blond idiot was more foolish than she though, as he approached her again.

“Hello. My name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy”

“Hi. My name is Bond. James Bond” responded Bluma in kind. Some muggle-borns included Hermione snorted, while Draco looked confused.

“Don’t worry if you don’t get the inside joke, Draco.”Bluma said sweetly. “Not all of us can have a proper education, and some are stuck with” she sneered at him “inferior methods.”

Malfoy reddened. “I would watch my tongue if I were you”

“It seems your father hasn’t taught you any manners. Not a surprise, considering your nothing but a filthy little pureblood. How does it feel going to Hogwarts, being nothing more than an inferior _beast_?”

Most people seemed shocked, at Bluma’s words. Most purebloods seemed furious at them, but didn’t know how to respond. They were taught to say that to muggle-borns, and now almost the exact same words were being thrown back at them. Thankfully, Professor Snape stepped in before a fight could happen.

“You are here to learn the delicate art of potions.” he began, but Bluma tuned out the rest. She had been brewing potions for a long time, including many poisons, and didn’t really need some dramatic speech about their course aims.

“Potter! What would I get if I added powdered roof of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

“Without any additional steps, nothing interesting, but using the asphodel and wormwood as a base it’s possible to brew a large variety of poisons including devil’s bane and Mondred’s breath.”

Some people in the class looked terrified of her now. It wasn’t as if she was going to poison them with the listed poisons. They were too expensive, although effective.

“Where would you look if I asked you to find a bezoar?”

“Bezoars can usually be found in most potions kits, and apothecaries. Additionally, it is possible to make a Bezoar yourself using the _hircum_ ritual, and it involves sacrificing a goat and letting it’s blood drain onto a normal stone”

Snape turned an interesting shade of puce. “20 points from Ravenclaw. That’s dark magic”

“Actually, that’s ritual magic, not dark magic, even though people tend to group it in the same area. It’s really a common misconception.”

“5 more for talking back”

Bluma actually liked the potions class. It was a very hands-on experience, and much more fun than learning about how to write essays, or some main themes of a book. Being and adult (mentally), she didn’t fear the fearsome professor stalking the aisles, and routinely ignored his derogatory comments about her potion. By the end of the class, some students were almost in tears, and Hermione looked distraught.

“Hey, Hermione. Why do you look so down. It was a fun class. More interesting than writing about characters and motifs, don’t you agree?”

“I don’t understand how you can stand Professor Snape. He’s so mean.”

“Hermione, he’s not mean. Potions are a very difficult and dangerous subject, and he knows that. If people were fooling around in his class, they could easily create and explosion or a toxic gas that would injure or even kill people. He’s not really trying to be mean, just gets carried away at times. Just imagine him in his underwear when he’s being mean, and you’ll see how easy it gets.”

Hermione let out a small laugh. “I guess you’re right”

Next up: Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Professor Quirrell was pathetic. He was constantly twitching and stuttering, and it took almost 15 minutes to finish the role.

“G-ood M-morning cla-ss. To-day we will be be st-t-tudy-ing the llumos charm. It it is us-sful against some d-dark c-creat-tures. T-the inc-cantation is _lumos_ wit-th n-no wand move-ment”

Bluma got it on her first try. Nonverbally. Wandlessly, and then set out to help her classmates. Hermione also had a light, and so Bluma told her to try making the light brighter and softer. When almost all the class had some light on their wands, Professor Quirrell started talking about his next topic, dark creatures. It was quite boring listening to him talk, so Bluma decided to ask.

“Professor, are we going to learn dark magic?”

Quirrell dove under his desk. Pathetic.

“Listen class, for our next lesson, you have to write some uses of the lumos charm. Where do you think it might be useful. Might it be inadvisable to use the lumos charm in some situations? Just list all your ideas down in dot points, and we will be reviewing them next class.”

“Hey, how come you’re our teacher now?” asked some (probably pureblood) slytherin

Bluma sent a stinging hex at him, who exclaimed “Ouch”

“Anyone else want to have a go?”Bluma asked the class, who looked a bit frightened of what happened to their classmate.

“Well, class is over then”


	4. In the Girl's Lavatory

The pair had an unusual friendship, where both would be studying and helping each other out.

“Hey, Hermione, would you mind checking over my herbology homework, and I’ll check yours”

“Sure, Harry…. This is quite good, but you missed the effects of seasons on _implexa clavi_.”

“Oh, thanks. I had forgotten about them. By the way, your work is also quite nice, but you tend to just write what the book writes word for word. Try putting the information in your own words and draw conclusions from the information given.

For example this sentence is directly from the book, and you should try to reword it and write an explanation or extrapolation from it.”

“It doesn’t have to be right or wrong, the teachers just want to know what you think about it, so that they can know where to teach.”

“Ok. I’ll work on that”

“By the way, Hermione, it’s great that you know the answer in class, but you don’t have to put your hand up all the time. The teachers already know that you know, and putting your hand up is hindering the learning opportunity of others. Don’t worry.

If no one answers the question, they will generally ask you directly, and you can show your understanding then. If only you answer the question, the teachers won’t know if Sue understood, or if Kevin did. Alright?”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that, I’m just used to it. I’ll try to stop”

“No, just work on giving others the chance to answer as well. I’m sure the teachers will appreciate it.”

Both of them had Charms on Halloween. They were practising _Wengardium Leviosa._ Well, the class was practising it while Bluma was practising it wandlessly. Hermione was helping Ron, who had a lot of trouble with that spell. It was at the end of the class that Ron decided to be mean.

“Gah. She’s such a know-it-all. No one can stand her, it’s why she hasn’t got any friends.”

Bluma hexed his face, which now sprouted painful boils, but the damage already had been done. Hermione pushed passed him running away.

Bluma knew that Hermione needed some time to calm down, and it didn’t surprise her when she missed their next class. Bluma decided to visit Hermione instead of going to some Halloween feast. Grabbing a piece of hair from Hermione (which had been secretly taken by Bluma for emergencies), she cut her finger and placed a drop on blood directly above the root of the hair. Bluma waved her hand, and the hair straightened itself and pointed in a direction like a compass. Perfect

Following Hermione’s strand of hair, led Bluma into the girl’s bathroom. Bluma knocked, as a courtesy.

“Hermione, are you alright? May I come in?”

“Go away!”

“I’m coming in” stated Bluma and pushed the door open. Hermione was crying on top of the sink, looking terrible. Bluma hugged Hermione and rubbed her back.

“Shh, Shh. It’s all right. Don’t listen to what Ron says. You have friends. We’re best friends. Besides, I hexed his face so badly he’ll have boils for a week!”

Hermione giggled.

“I was bullied in primary school for being a know-it-all. I thought that going to Hogwarts would be different, that I would be respected, but it is all the same.”

“I too, was not well liked for being a know-it-all, especially when I was moved up a couple of grades. People were jealous of me. But I never payed any attention to them. They were so childish, it was ridiculous being mad at a mentally-deficient three-year-old who didn’t know better.”

Bluma told Hermione, who started to calm down.

“I’ve got a big secret. Can you promise not to tell anyone?” Bluma asked Hermione

“Of course. We’re best friends aren’t we?”

“Exactly. Look” and Bluma removed her glamours one by one. In the end, a petite girl was left standing. “This is how I truly look” Bluma told Hermione

Hermione watched with wide open eyes. “You’re … You’re a girl?”

“Yes. I conducted a ritual a couple of years ago. I don’t have anything against men, but I really don’t need the testosterone messing with my brain.”

Hermione giggled.

Just then, a horrible stench hit them both. Hermione frowned in confusion, while Bluma’s eyes widened in alarm. She quickly put her glamours back on. “Hermione, get behind me NOW!”

Hermione dove behind her, and spotted a large 12-foot greenish creature thundering towards them. Bluma took out her wand.

_protego horriblis. fianto duri. repello inimicum,_ she intoned, her wand shooting out streams of magic that collected into a huge shield. 

_protego horriblis. fianto duri. repello inimicum,_ Bluma kept repeating. 

Hermione screamed, as the troll drew it’s club back and smacked the shield. The shield held, but there were some cracks forming. 

_protego horriblis. fianto duri. repello inimicum,_ Bluma kept casting. It would not be enough. The troll would eventually break through her shields, which were quite weak, due to her underdeveloped magic. 

“Hermione, pass me some ceramic, quickly” Bluma ordered her

Taking the ceramic tile, Bluma transfigured it into a knife, and then slit her wrists. 

_Sacra praesidio, per meum sanguinem_ Bluma intoned.

Her blood, gushing from her wrists, flew out and formed a  bright  blood-red shield.  The shield provided a red tint to everything else, and pulsed gently, following the rhythm of her heart. 

H ermione let out a shocked gasp. “Harry, You’re bleeding”

“Take off your shirt, and wrap it around my wrists tightly to stop the blood flow. Don’t worry about me seeing anything. Just wrap your robe about yourself. Quickly, now”

Hermione took off her shirt, and tied it across Bluma’s wrists. 

Bluma drew back her wand, and started spewing out dark cutting and flame curses at the troll, all passing through a tiny hole in her shield. Finally, a particularly nasty flaying curse hit the troll in the jugular vein, cutting it. The troll fell and bounced off the blood shield.  Dead. 

J ust then, they heard and saw some figures running towards them, who identified as the professors. 

Professor Quirrell whimpered, and then fainted, while Professor McGonnagle let out a small gasp at the sight of the dead troll. Professor Snape merely paled, probably recognising the dark curses used, and the bright red blood shield. 

“You are safe now. You can drop your shields, and we’ll get you to the infirmary.” let out Professor McGonnagle. 

Bluma slowly let down her blood shield, and slowly diffused the remains of her other wards.  Professor McGonnagle again let out a strangled gasp at the sight of the first-years. “What on earth, were you doing here?”

“Please, Professor. It was all my fault.”

“Nonsense” interrupted Bluma. “You couldn’t have known a troll, of all things was going to come here. We were here instead of at the Halloween feast, because Hermione was feeling a bit down. Then the troll came, and we managed to protect ourselves. You should probably take us to the infirmary now, as I doubt I could stand much longer” managed Bluma, before she fainted into the arms of Hermione. 

B luma woke up a couple of days later, in an unfamiliar white place. It looked like heaven, as Everything was white. The floor was white, the roof was white, the bed was white, even the table was white. Everything smelt like antiseptic, and she honestly thought that she was in the cleanest place on earth. She didn’t even see any dust motes in the air, and there was no dust either. 

“Am I in heaven?” Bluma asked

A voice chuckled “No, you’re in the infirmary. You were bought here by your friend and the professors, who were clearly terrified. Your friend is here to see you. Sleeping on the other bed. She was so distraught that I had to feed her a calming potion.”

“HARRY!” a voice screamed, and a projectile slammed into her.

“I’m so happy you’re alright. I was so worried about you, I couldn’t sleep all night. Madame Pomfrey assured me that you were going to be fine, but still...”

“How long have I been here?”

“Only a day. Classes were cancelled yesterday, so you didn’t miss anything.”

“What happened after I fainted?” Bluma asked

“I think we all want to know what happened” a new voice, belonging to the Headmaster interrupted.

“Oh. I didn’t see you there. Well, I assume Hermione told you about my _protego horriblis. fianto duri._ _r_ _epello_ _i_ _nimicum_ amalgamation, which was starting to develop cracks.

“I know how you Brits are about dark magic, which is really quite stupid. Many ‘dark’ creatures are just animals. Lions aren’t ‘dark’ just because they kill other animals, and could eat humans, so why should other creature be dark? But I digress.”

“Knowing that I couldn’t cast more powerful wards due to, well, being a child, I cut my wrists, as motivation obviously and used something which was red in colour, and rhymes with blood shield to create a very powerful and fuly legal shield around us.”

“After that, I cast some curses that rhyme with bark magic, and a particularly nasty flaying curse that came out of nowhere cut the jugular vein on the troll, killing it.”

Professor Dumbledore’s eyebrows furrowed as he guessed the hidden meaning between Bluma’s rhymes. “Where did you learn all that magic, my boy?”

“Well, mostly from books. There are not many masters in that art, nowadays. There used to be many more of them back in the good old days.”

“Are these related to your shopping expedition in Knocturn alley?”

“No, of course not. The only books I bought in Knocturn were to consolidate my English. I knew all this before-hand.”

“You went to Knocturn alley?” interrupted Hermione. “But that’s dangerous”

“It’s not really dangerous, once you know your way around it. It’s really quite friendly once you get to know the locals living there, but I digress.”

“Agreed. You did save yourself and your friend from death, regardless of any magic used, so I cannot fault you for that. Madame Pomfrey has discharged you, and you may return to classes tomorrow. Good day.” told Bluma, before he, too, left.

Hermione dragged Bluma into an unused classroom.

“Change” She commanded Bluma, who obliged, and dispelled her glamours.

“If you’re not Harry, then where is he?”

Bluma chuckled. “I _am_ Harry, just with a different gender.”

“But what should I call you?”

“Call me Bluma in private. It’s my ‘real’ name, and Harry when we’re in public. If someone hears us, just tell them that you call me Pluma, which is a feather in Spanish, and think of some random reason.”

“Ok… Bluma”


	5. Parseltongue

Next week, both girls were very anxious and nervous in regards to their next class. A flying class. Neither girl had flown before, and Bluma was even more terrified, due to her own experience in cursing brooms to fail, as one of her ‘jobs’. Hermione was rapidly muttering tips that she had read from _Quidditch through the ages_ , while Bluma was remembering protective enchantments and counter-curses.

“Now, everyone stand left to a broomstick, and say UP!” - called out the instructor

The broomsticks did not look great. Twigs were sticking out of the end, many were bent and tangled. There were scrapes and bumps across the broom, and some splinters coming off them. The brooms were slightly bent in random directions. Some broomsticks were thicker than others, and others almost were shrivelled up. It was a wonder that no-one had fallen on them.

“UP!” Bluma’s broomstick lifted a bit, before falling on the ground. Hermione’s merely rolled over.

Eventually, both broomsticks rose to the girls’ hands.

“Now, when I count to three, kick off gently. One, Two, Three”

Both Bluma and Hermione, alongside the rest of the class gently rose into the air. They started to do some laps around the Quidditch pitch, to get used to riding a broom.

Towards the end of the class, Bluma felt a tug on her broom. Suddenly, the broom buckled, as Bluma held on for dear life. This was not normal. Bluma started chanting counter-spells on her broomstick, which continued to jiggle in her grasp. Bluma’s eyes were furrowed in concentration, as sweat beaded down from her face.

“Bluma, are you alright?”

Bluma said nothing and continued to cast counter-spells on her broom. Hermione looked around, and saw some teachers on the teacher’s box. She dove towards them quickly. She passed through their line of sight, and suddenly the pressure on Bluma’s broom decreased. Bluma quickly touched back down, and started calling to Hermione.

“I’m fine. You can come back down, now.” called Bluma, while drawing her wand and casting diagnostics at the old broom.

There were all normal enchantments, but there was still something ‘off’ about them. Looking closer, Bluma realised that the stabilising charms were deactivated, as well as steering. Coincidence? The enchantments looked regular enough. Flight, wind-deflection, cushioning, and … magical signature?

Apparently someone created an enchantment that would detect her magical signature, and then, what? Tracing the path with her wand, the path went round and round in circles. Something was missing. Aha! A tiny, hidden rune, which caused allowed someone to control the broom, while at the same time deactivating the stability and control runes.

This was a cleverly-crafted assassination attempt. Apparently the legilimency attack on the first day was not stand-alone. Someone, realising that the blood wards would protect her, devised an attempt of circumventing that, by targeting the broomstick instead. Very clever, but also worrisome. It seemed someone was after her, most likely a supported of Mr Hu.

Not to mention the troll. She found it hard to believe that the troll could just wander into Hogwarts, as there were powerful wards to stop them. However, if someone let one in, it would be more explainable. But, one thing that Bluma was good at, was surviving assassination attempts. In her line of work, there were many who wanted to either rob her or kill her, and she was the last one standing every time.

But, why did they allow her to break the enchantment. Were they simply testing her? Assessing her potential? External interference?

“Harry, Harry. What happened. Your broom was wonky, and you started muttering incantations. I went to get the teachers, but you fixed it yourself.”

“It seems that someone is out to kill me. This broom was a cleverly-designed attempt to make me fall to my death. Look at this, the small rune, it helps someone control the broom. And here, there was an enchantment to detect my magical signature. Someone was trying to curse my broom. As for me muttering, I was trying to dispel the curse, but it was very difficult. Most likely an older-year or an adult.”

“Harry, that’s horrible. We should tell Professor Dumbledore. He’ll know what to do.”

“Why him? There is nothing that can be traced to anyone. Evidence is missing. The most we can do is remove the rune and fix the enchantments, and ask Professor Hooch to check the other brooms. We don’t want a student falling off, do we?”

Eventually, Hermione got so persistent and naggy that Bluma conceded, and went to Professor Dumbledore’s office, with Hermione along for the ride.

“Ah, hello. What brings you to my office today. Any trouble? Here, have a lemon drop.” he asked them, while passing them around. Both Bluma and Hermione politely declined.

“Well, earlier today, my broom started buckling, trying to make me fall. I started a chant to dispel it, but whoever it was, was more powerful than me.”

“Suddenly, it lessened, and I was able to land safely. Further examination of the broomstick revealed a magical-signature detecting enchantment, and a hidden rune, to simultaneously turn off the stability and control enchantments, while allowing someone else to control the broomstick.”

“I already fixed the enchantments, and asked Professor Hooch to check the other broomsticks, but Hermione here, persisted that I tell you.”

“Yes, it is a most intriguing conundrum. Who could’ve caused all this, without anyone noticing. I’ll have to investigate myself. Please, do tell me if there are any other attempts like this one. There is some piece of the puzzle missing, which we have to find. Thank you.”

“Well, that was informative” started Bluma, after their visit to Professor Dumbledore.

“How so?”

“If you noticed, he didn’t look surprised at the news. Professor Hooch must have told him.”

“So?”

“It implies that either both Professor Dumbledore and Professor Hooch are clean, or both tried to attack me. Considering that Professor Hooch was not looking nor muttering at me, and was on the other side of the pitch, means that unless all the staff is compromised, both her and Professor Dumbledore are clean.”

“Wow. I had no idea you could deduct something like that.”

“Well, it pays to be able to infer and extrapolate things, something that you need to work on with your work.”

“Your right.”

Both Bluma and Hermione got invites for tea at Mr Hagrid’s hut, who was a really nice guy. Bluma once thought that he was brainless, but his knowledge on ‘interesting’ creatures was second to none, and both had an interest in the more exotic creatures. Knocking on his door, and ignoring the mad dog barking, both entered. The room was like a sauna. A huge fire was burning beneath a pot, and the windows and blinds were all closed.

“Mr Hagrid, are we preparing for Winter from the Game of Thrones, or what?”

“Winter? Nah. Look ‘ere. See th’ egg? I’m so excited.”

“Whoa. That’s a dragon egg. You must have gotten lucky on Customs. It’s not easy to smuggle a dragon into Britain”

“Smuggle? Nah. Won it off a game of poker. Guy sitting next’a me, all hooded up, wanted to get rid of it, I reckon. But don’t ya worry, I have it all set up. I’ve been reading. Ya see.” and proudly patted the book on dragons.

“Aren’t dragons, you know, dangerous?” interrupted Hermione

“Not if you know what you’re doing. Let me cast some charms, make your home fire-proof. When the dragon hatches, we’ll feed it some dog meat, for loyalty, and I’ll cast some more charms to prevent him from biting anyone, and to limit his fire.” continued Bluma

“Baby dragons have really venomous teeth, you know? We could get some of it and sell it, it’s really valuable.”

“Sell the poison, it won’t harm him, will it?”

“No, of course not. We just make him bite something like a jar, and the venom will drip down. I’ve seen it done on snakes, that’s how they make their antivenom. It’s really fascinating.”

“Oh, all right then. Maybe people will make a dragon antivenom out of it, too.” agreed Mr Hagrid.

Two weeks later, they got another note. “It’s Hatching!!!!!”

Bluma and Hermione arrived after classes had finished. “Where is it, Mr Hagrid?”

Mr Hagrid chuckled. “Very eager, I see. Well, look ‘ere” and showed them the egg, which now had some cracks forming. It took an hour for the dragon to break through. Hagrid wanted to help it, but Bluma reminded him that the dragon needed to struggle, for it to later be strong.

“Aww, isn’t he a cutie, and he knows his daddy too...”

Bluma waved her wand over the dragon. “Hagrid, it’s not a he.”

“Pardon?”

“The dragon is female, and quite healthy too.” Bluma managed, before the dragon breathed fire onto them, stopped by a small shield charm.

Bluma, having read about some enchantments placed on dragons to make them safer, started casting. After that, Bluma cut her fingertip and drew a line of blood over the dragon’s head.

“This should help make the dragon more tame.”

Then, Bluma heard a hissing. “ _Food, sss_ _rrr_ _s, food”_ “What, did anyone else hear it?”

“Hear what?” - asked Hermione

“The hissing? It sounded like food. Mr Hagrid, did you?”

“Nah. Must’ve imagined it. But you’re right. Let’s give the dragon some food. I thought about calling her Nobert, but as she is a girl… What about Norwy? She’s a Norwegian Ridgeback, what do you think?” Bluma and Hermione giggled, before agreeing.

Bluma took out her pieces of dog meat that she bought. “Here, Hermione, we’ll all feed it together. When we leave, we’ll leave it some of our clothes, so that it remembers our scent.”

Hermione cautiously extended her hand, only to jerk it back as Norwy snatched the meat and gobbled it up.

“ _More, More ssssrrrr”_

“Did anyone hear that?”

“No”

“Nah”

Bluma cautiously approached the dragon. “ _Did you speak?”_

“ _speak ssrrrsss yes sssrsrsrrr”_ it responded.

Now everyone looked shocked.

“You can understand it?”

“Some of it. It speaks really weirdly, maybe like a different accent? I don’t know how to describe it. Like speaking Portugese instead of Spanish, maybe.”

“Wow. That’s so cool. Can you speak to any animals, or just dragons?”

“I can’t understand all other animals I’ve heard, but I haven’t met many animals. There might be others I could understand. Maybe Comodo dragons, as they are genetically similar.”

“In any case, give it more food, it’s hungry.”

Bluma tried further to communicate with the dragon, while trying to fill in the gaps. There were many words that she didn’t know, and the dragon spoke like a toddler, but they could get a basic message across, such as not harming them, as they would not be able to give her more food, and to not light things on fire. The two agreed that they would take Norwy for walks in the forest so that she could light some small things on fire, once in a while, without causing damage.

Bluma and Hermione spent a couple of days studying magical languages. There were many magical languages, and obviously dragon-tongue did not exist in any book. However, every language required them to learn it by themselves; it was not an intrinsic ability. Finally, Hermione found a lead.

“Did you know that Salazar Slytherin could talk to snakes?”

“No, but snakes, you say? Did it mention how he learnt it?”  
“Apparently he was a parselmouth, and could talk in parseltongue, the language of the snakes.”

“This sounds more like an ability. Maybe I can talk to snakes? We’ll ask Mr Hagrid if he has any snakes, or else we’ll search for them in the forest”

“A parselmouth, you say? It was rumoured that Yuno Hu (You-Know-Who) could talk to snakes. Don’t worry, we’ll find one in the forest, and take Norwy with us, so that she can explore the forest.”

A while later, Bluma heard a faint hissing.

“There’s a snake nearby. Be careful”

“ _I feel big animals. Must run away”_ said a tiny voice

“ _Wait, we didn’t mean to sscare you away”_ replied Bluma.

“ _Oh, hello there,_ _big monkey_ _. Have you seen any food nearby?”_

“IT TALKS! Whispered Bluma to the others, who stood with a surprised faces. “I can understand it!”

“ _No, sorry. I haven’t. Bye”_

“ _Happy hunting”_

“Well, this is interesting.”- started Hermione. “Snakes are close relatives to Dragons, which is probably why you can understand them.”

And with that new information, Bluma became the official dragon interpreter of the group.


	6. Unicorns

The winter holidays came, and Hermione left to spend it with her family. Bluma remained, at the insistence of Professor Dumbledore in the castle. Bluma spent the holidays helping Mr Hagrid out with his magical creatures and learning about them. Hagrid was such a creature lover; no animal was too ugly or too dangerous to handle.

Bluma especially liked feeding the Hippogriphs, who were very majestic creatures. Their feathers were soft but firm, and of many colours. The Hippogriphs were mostly white and grey, and were as big as horses, but with wings. When the Hippogriphs became accustomed to her, Bluma was allowed by Mr Hagrid to ride them. Riding the Hippogriphs was an amazing experience. Although Bluma was not good at flying, the Hippogriph didn’t need her expertise (or lack of).

Bluma and Mr Hagrid were walkig back through the forest, quite late due to them feeding all the animals, when they heard a noise. It sounded like hooves, running towards them. Mr Hagrid lifted his crossbow, and Bluma lifted her wand. The sight that followed was very concerning. An injured unicorn ran past them. Not many creatures would harm unicorns, as they bought a terrible curse to those that hurt them, or drank from their blood. Bluma gave chase to the unicorn, while masking her sound; it wouldn’t do to scare the unicorn after all. The unicorn ran into a clearing, before collapsing.

Even from muggle school, she had been drilled into her head the Dr’s ABC:

Danger

Response

Airway

Breathing

Circulation

Bluma prick her finger to create a small blood ward, and connecting it to her own blood ward, so that it would protect a certain area. She looked towards the unicorn, which had a large gash running across it. It was truly a horrific scene.

Unicorns were very pure creatures; their fur was completely white, and they created an aura of calmness and content, to similarly good creatures, while creating fear into those with dark hearts. Unicorns were also extremely magic resistance, even more than dragons. It was impossible to ward against them, and only extremely powerful dark curses would even scratch them. It was similarly impossible to breed them in captivity, as they would become really vicious, and try to kill or curse those who trapped them.

It was very difficult to get unicorn parts, which made them so expensive. Some hair could be caught on branches, which is the only reason wands with unicorn hair exist at a reasonable price. Befriending unicorns was possible, although extremely difficult as unicorns do not trust such tainted animals like humans.

The injury on the unicorn was from a dark cutting curse, which stopped the unicorn’s natural healing ability. It would be difficult to remove, and any time lost could be fatal. However, the cutting curse _could_ be transferred to a willing participant.

Bluma wandlessly cut her pants open. Bluma raised the tip of her wand onto the wound, and extracted _something,_ a dark swirling mass. Bluma then lowered her wand, and touched her leg. At that instance, Bluma let out a scream of agony as a violent shred of her leg, with bits of muscle and bone ripped apart, before her cut arteries started sprouting blood everywhere.

Bluma shakily lifted her wand to the unicorn.

“ _sana quod sanare, rana cauda, si non curaret hodie, te sanare cras”_

The blood of the unicorn slowly seeped back into the wound, before some muscles started knitting themselves back together, and then the skin itself, the unicorn’s healing accelerated by it’s natural ability.

The pain in her leg became too much to bear, and Bluma started falling unconscious. The last thing she saw was the unicorn nuzzling her head.

Bluma awoke, smelling the powerful disinfectant in the air more powerful than the one in the hospital wing. There were some beeps around her, and some quiet talking out of range. Bluma groaned while opening her eyes. Her left leg still felt terribly sore, and her ribs hurt. A dull throb was pounding on her head as well. The ceiling was different than the hospital wing. It had little circular holes evenly spaced. If she wasn’t in the hospital wing; where was she?

“Ah, Mr Potter. You have awoken. Do you know where you are?”

“Some hospital, probably. Haven’t seen this one before”

“Correct. You are in Saint Mungo’s center for Magical Maladies. You were brought here from Hogwarts suffering from a powerful dark curse on your leg. What can you tell us about it?”

“I was healing a … patient. They had a terrible dark curse, and would soon die. I transferred it to my leg, as I had better chances of living, and then healed the … patient.”

“Your help was admirable, but it would be better next time if you bought your patient directly to us. The curse was very dark, and you nearly died of blood loss. Unfortunately, you have quite a large scar remaining on your leg, which is impossible to be removed.”

Bluma looked at her leg, with a frightened gasp at her scarred leg, which looked as if it had been under a tank.

“You will need to take a variety of potions for at least six weeks, to boost your red blood cells up, as well as your immune system. By the way, you have a visitor, who is quite anxious to see you.”

Bluma was blinded by some gold and pink colours, which slowly transformed to hideous clothes, before finally focusing on Professor Dumbledore.

“Hello, Harry. I’m very happy that you’re awake and fine. Could you tell me what happened in the forest? I need to get a clearer picture. Hagrid was quite distressed when he carried you directly to the hospital wing.”

“We were in the forest, and were walking back when we saw an injured unicorn running. I ran after it, hoping to heal it. It collapsed in a clearing, and I created a small … ward to protect us from whatever hurt the unicorn. The unicorn was heavily bleeding, and had a dark ripping curse, I believe the “ _stupra_ ” curse.” Professor Dumbledore’s raise his eyebrow at Bluma’s recognition of the curse. “I transferred the curse onto my leg, and healed the unicorn. I must have fainted afterwards.”

“Hagrid’s tale matches up with what you say, with an additional shadow trying, but failing to breach your blood ward. It was wise of you to think of protecting yourselves before trying to heal the unicorn. It would have been dangerous without your protection. When you return to Hogwarts, Hagrid wants to show you something.”

With that Professor Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts and left Bluma to her thoughts. Who could’ve wanted to harm a unicorn? Who would have so little to lose, but everything to gain from killing a unicorn? These questions did not leave with an easy mind.

Bluma returned to Hogwarts a couple of days later, and immediately went to Mr Hagrid’s place, who was probably worried sick about her.

“Harry! You’re alright. I was very worried ‘bout you. Here, come with me. There’s someone you might like to meet.”

They went into the forest, tracing a familiar path, until Bluma saw a flash of white in the forest. She suddenly felt calmer than she had in months. That flash of white bounded towards her, which turned into a beautiful young unicorn; the same one that she saved.

“Alright, I’ll leave you two here to get acquainted” said Mr Hagrid before leaving.

The unicorn nuzzled her cheek gently, appreciating her help. Then, the unicorn bowed her head at Bluma, who bowed in return. The unicorn used it’s horn to cut into Bluma’s scarred leg, to which Bluma whimpered in pain, before pricking it’s own leg. The unicorn lifted her leg towards Bluma’s cut leg so that the blood would mix. Just as the unicorn’s blood touched her own, Bluma felt fire coursing through her veins, and a terrible migraine started, with dark spots in her vision.

Somewhat around 15 minutes later, Bluma regained consciousness, with a new clarity in her head. “ _Hello?_ ”

Bluma yelped in surprise. It was the unicorn speaking. “ _Hello?_ _How are you speaking?_ _”_

“ _Oh, good. Welcome, you are now part of the Moro clan._ _Now you will know true peace.”_

said the unicorn, before walking off.

The world seemed strange now as she was so very, very peaceful. She went back to Mr Hagrid, who she now noticed gave a kind impression. As soon as he saw her, Mr Hagrid smiled, before frowning in confusion.

“Harry, what happened to your hair?”

Bluma tried but failed to see her hair, as it was too short. Chuckling lightly, Mr Hagrid handed her a mirror. She inspected herself, before gasping in surprise. Her hair now had pure white streaks running along it. The only thing that happened recently that could have caused it was her transfusion of unicorn blood.

Although normal transfusion of blood wouldn’t do anything, unicorn was anything but normal. Those that drank unicorn blood lived a cursed life. Unicorns most likely practised some version of blood magic. Is it possible that freely given unicorn blood was a gift? She would need to investigate further. On the plus side, it didn’t seem that her body was rejecting the foreign blood. It was probably some unicorn magic that allowed it.

Over the next few days, people noticed her new white streaks across her hair, but decided that she just dyed it. She received some Christmas presents from Hermione, as well as some of her dorm-mates in Ravenclaw. The last present bore no note, which made her a bit suspicious. All her detection spells just fizzled when they touched the present. Bluma transfigured some tongs, and gently pried the wrapping open.

A silvery and thin material spilled onto the flood. It was an invisibility cloak. Bluma had come across some invisibility cloaks in her work, but they were very expensive to make. Who could’ve sent her this gift?

A single note flew from the cloak.

“Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time I return it to you. Use it well”

Although the note bore no signature, Bluma easily detected a bit of familiar magical signature. Of course it was from Professor Dumbledore; who else?

A few days later, the rest of the school arrived back to Hogwarts, and classes began. Bluma told her everything interesting that happened at school, including the unicorn blood now coursing through her. Bluma thought that Hermione looked a bit disappointed in not having the adventure, but it might have been about her going to hospital. Classes continued as usual, and Norwy the dragon was growing well, and liked to play fetch, although usually burned the stick in the process.

On another note, Bluma found Ron and his friend studying in the library, looking for famous alchemists. That was strange, usually they would fear the library, and would never willingly go there.

While sneaking into the restricted section, using her new invisibility cloak, she heard some footsteps. Quickly hiding in an abandoned classroom, she saw a large ornate mirror.

“Well, let’s see how I look” - muttered Bluma to herself, before stepping before the mirror. What she found made her gasp. She was standing inside a huge library surrounded by her loved ones. Her mother and father, who had died some years ago, and her grandparents. Hermione was also there, right next to her, with her head against Bluma’s shoulder. Everyone there looked so happy. With a silent tear, Bluma left the room. She had no wish to revisit the mirror; she had many loving memories of her parents.

Classes resumed, and Bluma found her wandless magic getting easier to do. She now was also teaching Hermione the basics of wandless magic. Wandless magic was hard to do, as wands optimised the flow of magic. While wands created a thin, imaginary stream of magic, wandless magic basically brute-forced the problem.

Sure, it was possible to slightly focus her magic into one direction, but the area covered was huge compared to using a wand. And, of course, the potency obeyed the inverse squared law, just like many other forces. In other words, the potency of magic was inversely proportional to the distance squared. Such a concept was still not known to the wizards, other than it was ‘hard’.

Although, a new thing was a ‘tinge’ in her magic. Simply transfiguring something would turn it into pure white colour, and she had to manually force the colour to be the correct one. This problem even applied to her wand magic, and even Professor Flitwick was puzzled by the new development. However, Bluma quickly got used to it, and now subconsciously changed the colour to the correct version.


	7. Mr Hu?

Bluma was getting creeped out by Professor Quirrell with no explanation. Every time he was in her vicinity, Bluma felt a great fear and hate coming from him at the same time. Most people felt naturally good to her, which was surprising given her annoyances with their foolishness and childishness. Some professors, on the other hand felt no longer innocent. That was most likely due to them having lived through the war. It was hard not to come unscathed through that, but Professor Quirrell just felt… odd.

Exams were drawing closer, and Hermione was panicking. Every day bought a new level of stress as the deadline drew closer, until Bluma decided it was enough.

“Hermione, we are going to the lake, to sit there and relax.”

“But, I haven’t finished my revision!”

“While a bit of adrenalin is good, this is bordering on ridiculous. There is no way you will do well in your exam if you become so stressed you forget everything. Come with me.”

The lake was a pale blue colour in the sunlight, and the wildlife was awake and noisy. The ducks were squawking and eating, and swallows were in the trees. A hawk was hunting in the distance, circling in the sky and looking for it’s prey. They came to rest near the shore line, and Hermione laid back onto Bluma. There were a few white clouds in the otherwise perfectly blue sky, and the sun was in a position that didn't shine into their eyes. Fish swam in the lake, looking for food, while at the other end of the lake, some small animals drank water. 

“You have been working hard. This is good, but if you let the exam become the only part of your life, you will only become stressed until you can no longer think. There is a stress curve, you know, between stress and productivity. Firstly, it rises; A bit of stress is good for productivity. But then, it falls really rapidly. You are in fact hindering your ability by being so stressed, so relax. When you’re relaxed, I’ll quiz you, so you know exactly where to revise.”

Hermione’s frazzled look became more calm, until both completely forgot about their worries and started skipping along the shoreline.   
  


Bluma’s empathic / slightly telepathic feelings about Professor Quirrell worsened. He was now in a lot of pain, in anticipation of something and newfound hatred. Bluma was worried he would do something foolish, and when no one was watching, put a tracking charm on his turban. It would alert her if he went into any unusual areas.

Bluma was woken up in the night, as she felt her tracking charm alert her that Professor Quirrell was going into a prohibited area. Which area? The third floor corridor, of course. She quickly woke Hermione up.

“Quickly, go and alert Professor Flitwick that he or Professor Dumbledore need to go and check on Professor Quirrell, who’s going into the forbidden corridor.”

“No, Bluma. I’m coming with you. Wake a prefect or something.” Hermione narrowed her eyes at Bluma.

“… Oh. Fine. I give up.” Bluma relented, before waking her dorm-mate Kevin, and placing a slight compulsion to follow her orders, which were to alert Professor Flitwick for him to check on Professor Quirrell.

Bluma and Hermione went under the invisibility cloak, in the meantime, and quickly walked towards the 3rd floor corridor. Bluma’s cheeks reddened a bit at their closeness, but chose to remain silent, as they walked their way up.

Standing near the corridor, Bluma felt her hairs on her neck stand up. There were wards around here.

“Hermione, stay back. There are wards here.” Bluma whispered, before casting some detection charms. The wards were deactivated masterfully by, most likely, Professor Quirrell.

Bluma activated the detection wards only. It would be felt by the caster, and would alert them. Bluma opened the door, to find herself face to face with a giant head. Two heads. Three giant heads of a dog, who growled threateningly at them.

“Hey, doggie. Who’s a good doggie?” Bluma carefully said, getting ready to fight, but there was no need. The three-headed dog became calmer and in a few moments barked happily, running around chasing it’s tail. Bluma and Hermione carefully made their way into the trap door.

The landing was soft and slimy. Bluma wandlessly lighted a light, and suddenly the plant that was slowly strangling her, without her knowledge, retracted. Both fell, only to be slowed by Bluma’s wandless “ _arresto momentum”_. The next door was filled with keys that needed to be caught? In any case, Bluma transfigured a key into some picks, and quickly picked the lock. The door was warded against detonation and any unlocking charms, but it didn’t save it from being picked the muggle way.

Hermione grabbed a broomstick, and motioned for Bluma to sit. Hermione gently kicked off, being the strongest flyer out of the duo, one hand on the broomstick, while another wrapped around Bluma. The light was too dark to see either face slightly pink. Both flew over the chess board, and over the dead troll into a room. Fire instantly blazed across the exits. Not any fire, a particularly dark version of the fuego enchantment, almost impossible to break. On the desk were some vials  and a piece of parchment. 

“ _Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,  
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,  
One among us seven will let you move ahead,  
Another will transport the drinker back instead,  
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,  
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.  
Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,  
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:  
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide  
You will always find some on nettle wine’s left side;  
Second, different are those who stand at either end,  
But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend;  
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,  
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;  
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right  
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.” _The parchment told. 

“It’s not a magic question. It’s a logic question. Let me think...” exclaimed Hermione, before muttering to herself. 

“Ok. The smallest blue vial will take us forwards, while the last on the right will take us back.”

“Well done Hermione. However, I must be the one to pass through. You see, I have a powerful blood ward on me. I can defend myself really well. However, I cannot easily extend this protection to you. Sorry.”

“There are things more important than books and logic. Be brave and be careful.”

and with that Bluma stepped through the  fire. 

S ure enough, Professor Quirrell was in front of the mirror. Bluma knew that she needed more information. Although her blood ward was strong, if she got disarmed, enough curses would eventually break through. 

“Ah, Potter. I wondered if I would be seeing you.” and shot some ropes to bind her. The ropes were not directly harmful and therefore did not react with her blood ward. 

“The stone is inside the mirror, but how do I get it out?”

“Sorry, but you want a stone? Have you looked downwards, in front, sideways or even upwards recently?”

“Fool. The Philosopher’s stone is inside the mirror, and will revive my master.”

“You don’t need a philosopher's stone to create an inferius, you imbecile.” Bluma retorted, but Professor Quirrell ignored her. He levitated her in front of the the same ornate mirror in which she saw her parents and Hermione. 

“Well, what do you see?”

The mirror once again showed her parents with Hermione, who was now holding a red rock. “I see my parents. What do you see?”

“I see the stone. I’m presenting it to my master, but how do I get it?”

Bluma started laughing. 

“This mirror shows you what you want, but doesn’t actually give you that. It doesn’t have some super magical powers, you idiot. Even I can see that while it may show my parents, it won’t bring them back.”

“But the stone is in the mirror”

“No, you knucklehead. It just shows you what you want, and you want some red stone, so it shows you that. There is nothing else about it.”

Professor Quirrell looked dejected, before suddenly turning suspicion. Bluma realised her mistake as well. She had just stated the colour, of a stone she shouldn’t be able to see. 

A strange voice sounded. 

“ _Let me speak to him”_

“You are not strong enough, master” Professor Quirrell fearfully said to himself. 

“ _But I have enough strength for this.”_ Said the voice before Professor Quirrell slowly unwound his turban. There, on the back of his head was a deformed face. 

“ _You see, boy, You see what I’ve become?”_

“ _I can bring your parents back. I can give you riches beyond imagination. I can make you the most powerful person alive, if you just give me the STONE”_

“Sorry, kid. I really don’t think having inferius human-eating zombies for parents is a good idea. I mean, you might want to have them yourself, but I prefer them dead than zombies who want to kill me. In regards to riches, I recently donated half my vault, because I think I had waaay to much money, and the rest I plan on using it to buy books.

And make me powerful? Unless you’re a Q from star trek, in which case why don’t you just ‘q’ yourself another stone, you won’t be able to make me more powerful than what I could. I mean, there are some rituals that try to give you more power, but only an idiot would use them, like the Mr Hu guy. Sure, it might give a small boost in power, but at the cost of sanity, it is not really a good option. By the way, but who are you?”

“ _You do not recognise me?_ ” the voice chuckled. “ _You don’t recognise_ _the greatest person alive, me,_ _Lord Voldemort?”_

“Sorry, but lord voldywho? I’m afraid I haven’t heard about you.”

The face was incensed. “ _How dare you. It is I, the dark lord, you fool._ _I was bringing a new era into the magical world, getting rid of filth plaguing the magical world including all the mudbloods and blood-traitors. I had an enormous army, and we were going to take over the ministry, until YOU came along and rebounded my avada kedavra._ _”_

“Which dark lord? There were quite a few in this time. There is Grindelwald, Monsalve, Koreliof and Koreliova, and of course Hu.”

“ _Fool. You don’t recognise me, who killed your parents. I first killed your father, who fought bravely before falling to my wand, and then your mother, who begged to spare you.”_

“Oh. Your Mr Hu. I must say, you don’t look very asian nor chinese. I mean, the Hu surname was definitely used in china...”

“ _Who’s Mr Hu you idiot?”_

“Errr. Mr Yuno Hu? Yourself? Everyone tells me that Mr Hu was the most recent dark lord that killed my parents...”

“ _It is I, who killed your parents. Lord...”_ His sentence was cut short.

“ _Avada Kedavra”_ said a bored Bluma, who was tired of the waiting game. Really, that Mr Hu guy had really poor situational awareness skillz. Those evil villains really liked monologuing, and it was really easy to distrat them, while they invisioned their 'grand plans' for the world, before cursing them. She had freed her hands and her wand while Mr Hu was distracted. The curse sailed, and while Mr Hu tried to get out of the way, Professor Quirrell didn’t see the curse, standing backwards, and it hit him right across his chest. The professor instantly collapsed, dead. 

A  dark cloud of swirling mass with blood red eyes got out of his body, and headed directly for Bluma, who’s eyes had widened dramatically. It was not an everyday occurence that a wraith be possessing someone. Now that she thought about it, it looked suspiciously like the Ring Wraith from the Lord of the Rings. Mr Hu probably got inspiration from reading that story. After taking in his comical appearance, Bluma began p utting up a shield to stop spirits, including wraiths from attacking. The dark swirling mass clashed against the shield, which held. Sweat was dripping down from Bluma’s hair, due to her exhaustion at the shield. It was a really difficult spell to master, and she needed to keep the shield up lest she became possessed as well. 

A new figure emerged from the fire, and brandished his wand. 

“ _Dumbledore”_ hissed the cloud, before being struck by a spell and fleeing the castle. Bluma swayed left to right, before falling unconscious, mentally, physically and magically exhausted. The last thing she saw was Professore Dumbledore suddenly calm down as he approached her. 


	8. Dobby

Bluma was getting used to wake up in the hospital wing. It seemed she spent more time in the wing than outside.

“I see that you’re awake. Come in again and we’ll have to permanently move you here.” suggested Maname Pomfrey.

“Well, at least the bed should get my name engraved upon it” muttered Bluma

Just then, a blurred missile slammed into her.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re alright. I was so worried about you; Professor Dumbledore bought you back carried in your arms.” Hermione blabbered.

“What happened after you went through the fire?”

“I think we all want to know what happened.” Interrupted Professor Dumbledore.

“Well, Professor Quirrell was there. He tied me up to look in some mirror. He was half-possessed by a wraith that was on the back of his head. We talked for a bit while I loosened the ropes and distracted him, before I killed him. The wraith tried to ram at me, but I held it off until Professor Dumbledore arrived.”

“This is very concerning, my boy. Do you know anything about the wraith?”

“Oh, yes. He said he was some sort of lord or something. He told me that he killed my parents, but that was Mr Hu, wasn’t it?”

Professor Dumbledore’s eyes furrowed in confusion, before he paled. “Was the wraith called Lord Voldemort by any chance?”

“Oh, yes. That sounds familiar. Why? Who is he?” Bluma asked.

“It seems that we failed to tell you about the great wizarding war. You see, there was a bloody and terrible war going on between Lord Voldemort and the rest of the wizarding world...”

“Sorry, but who’s Lord Voldemort? I thought that the leader of the coup was Mr Hu.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t heard of them”

“What do you mean? Everyone tells me how I survived the avada kedavra off that Yuno Hu guy.”

Hermione was the first to get it, and started laughing. 

“What’s so funny?” asked a confused Bluma, only to spur Hermione to start laughing again. 

“Harry, the Yuno Hu guy IS called Lord Voldemort, but people are terrified of his name. There was a taboo on his name, that is, Voldemort, and people started calling him “You-Know-Who”, as in y-o-u and then k-n-o-w and w-h-o.”

Bluma facepalmed. “ And here I thought that he was called Mr Hu, and was chinese and everything. But, he’s not called voldemort either. I mean, what’s his first name. Lord? Imaging naming your child Lord Voldemort.  Imagine, G’day Lord. How do you do Lord? Lord, get back here, you haven’t payed your taxes . It’s stupid. However, Voldemort sounds suspiciously french. Let’s see… Vol de mort. He is probably named Vol  or Voil , and his last name is Mort,  so Voil de la Mort , although he didn’t seem french either…”

“Although he went by different names, his true name is Tom. Tom Marvolo Riddle. He created an anagram of his name and fashioned it into Lord Voldemort, which just means the flight of death, le vol de la mort, in French.  When he put a taboo on his name, few people were brave or powerful enough to call him by his name.  From then on, people knew him as that, or You-Know-Who.” Finally revealed Dumbledore. 

“ Oh. That was… anticlimactic. Next time I’ll call him Mr Riddle, just like those people from Matrix called Neo: Mr Anderson all the time.” The professor and students smiled. 

A fter Professor Dumbledore left, Bluma was left with Hermione. 

“Um, Bluma… I told my parents how you were now living in the castle, and they want to invite you to spend the summer holidays with us...” Bluma blinked, before grinning and hugging Hermione. 

“Thank you very much. I would be pleased to spend summer with you.”

The leaving feast was really great, but neither Bluma nor Hermione payed any attention, as both were rapidly completing their summer homework early. It was a common sight on the Ravenclaw table of people reading books, discussing magical theory with their friends or completing their homework. It was no surprise that when Professor Dumbledore revealed that Slytherin had won the house cup, very few Ravenclaws, if any, cared at all.  Who would care for some abstract number,  an immaterial win?

It was a common misconception that Ravenclaws did amazingly in their homework and tests. Yes, they valued intelligence and knowledge, but most of the time, students studied ahead or in other fields of magic.  Sure, it was interesting to track wizard and other species populations throughout history, but that did not mean that the person would have learnt about goblin wars.  It was usually the Slytherins who prepared and studied the course material intensively; at least those with ambitions which involved getting the highest grades. Other Slytherins only cared about networking and building relations with as many people that would be useful in the future. 

U nfortunately, all the books that Bluma and Hermione had borrowed from the library had to be returned, to much of both their displeasures. As such, they didn’t have anything to read except Bluma’s tomes on blood magic, the basics of which Bluma happily explained to Hermione. Hermione was a bit sceptical at first, but remembering the blood red shield that Bluma created against the troll, heightened up her curiosity. Bluma demonstrated a weak blood shield by pricking her finger,  as the door opened to admit the blondie with his two helpers. They all paled at the sight of a blood shield, as they probably knew how dangerous (and probably highly illegal too) they were. 

“Yes?” said an annoyed Bluma “Have you come to apologise to Hermione for being an imbecile, disgusting, and a generally inferior beast?”

The bolndie’s nose turned up. “Why would I apologise to a…” He didn’t get to finish the sentence as Bluma tied a noose around his neck and lifted it. The blondie started thrashing, trying to get it off. 

“I think you should apologise, before you run out of oxygen in your bloodstream...”

Gently lowered, they all fled the corridor. 

“Tell me next time he even looks in your direction, and I’ll really make him grovel at your feet.” Bluma told Hermione. 

The train arrived at station 9 ¾ and Bluma was dragged by Hermione to meet her parents, who were standing at a corner.  They relaxed and calmed down instantly when they saw Bluma and Hermione. 

“Mum, dad. Meet Bluma. Bluma, this is Julie and  Daniel, my parents.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you.” introduced Bluma.

“Good morning. Are you the one disguised as Harry, by any chance?”

With that, Bluma dispelled her glamours, much to the shock of them both. 

“Well, that answers my question”

They squeezed themselves and their trunks into their little car, one of the consequences of being an only child, and drove home. 

“ Hey Hermione, why do I feel so calm and relaxed, all of a sudden? Is this some new spell?”

“What do you mean?”

“When you showed up, I literally felt all my worries and stress from work leave me. Just wondering...”

“ It might have been from me. After I saved a unicorn, it injected me with a bit of it’s blood. Unicorns are known for calming those around them...” Bluma finally revealed.

“Well, you can tell us all about your adventures at dinner.” Julie finally agreed.

“Hermione, show Bluma to where she will be staying. Originally when we though she was a boy, she would have slept on the couch, but now that she is a girl, she can sleep on the spare mattress in your bedroom.”

“Oh, before I forget, Hermione, My wand does not have the trace, so you can use magic over the holidays using my wand, and show your parents all that you’ve learnt at Hogwarts.”

Hermione propelled herself at Bluma. “Thank you Thank you Thank you. This is the best present ever.”

Although Bluma’s wand was not a good fit for Hermione, she was still able to do most spells, although some took a couple of tries to get right. Her parents were amazed at all the magic she had learnt, and understood that she was using a wand with a bad fit. Bluma explained it like having different glasses. Glasses made for the person had the focus needed, while other glasses would refract the light differently, bringing the view out of focus. 

Hermione spent a lot of time showing Bluma around her suburb, while Bluma taught Hermione some more wandless magic. It was a surprise to Hermione that Bluma hired some tutors to teach them science, math. Hermione did not know that Bluma was already doing grade 9 and 10 subjects. However, Hermione quickly caught up to them. It was wondrous how much children could progress if they didn’t have to study English, PE, humanities and music.  And, although music was a good way to prevent the deterioration of the brain in late stages of life, the limited amount of ‘music’ that Bluma knew sounded like screeches of nails on blackboards, with an army of elephant running towards them. 

S ometime later, when Bluma was getting ready for bed, she heard a scream coming from Hermione’s bedroom. Entering the bedroom, she was greeted to a sight of a house elf jumping on the bed. 

“Hermione, it’s OK. It’s just a house elf.”  
“Hello. How do you do?” Bluma asked the house elf.

“ I is Dobby. Dobby has come to warn Harry Potter, but Dobby does not know where to begin… You is not Harry Potter. Where is he?”

Bluma put her glamour on. 

“I am Harry Potter. Of what have you come to warn me? Try to start at the beginning.”

“Harry Potter must NOT go back to Hogwarts. There is a plot. An evil and terrible plot. Harry Potter will be in grave danger.”

“Dobby, listen to me. I have a blood ward around me. A very, very powerful blood ward around me.  I suspect it would stop any curse shy of avada kedravra itself.”

“Dobby is not convinced. There is a terrible plot. Oh, the horrors it would bring. But it must not harm the great Harry Potter.”

“Dobby, ask yourself this question. I understand you might not be able to answer me depending on what your master has ordered, but think to yourself. This plot has two options: Either it is directly against me, or irrelevant to me. If it is directly against me, then the best place to be is where everyone expects me to be, but armed with foreknowledge and prepared. If it is irrelevant to me, then my blood wards will protect me from being hurt in the crossfire. In any case, I have strong magics protecting me, and our best bet is to do the unexpected, in face of danger.”

“… Dobby will be watching”

A s soon as Dobby left, Bluma cut her palm and created a blood dome around their house. It never hurt to be protected. Bluma explained a bit of history on the house elves to Hermione, before writing an inquiry into the Department of Magical Creatures in the Ministry of Magic, asking about the names of house elves, and a possibility of contacting the owner.  Bluma said that she wanted information on good house elves to buy from reputable owners. 

A reply was received the next day.  After lying and complementing the rich and the ministry, Bluma asked about a house elf named Dobby.  Apparently, Dobby was the house elf of the Malfoy estate,  who was apparently a ‘reputable’ and ‘charitable’ person. However, Bluma knew better than believing those lies. With Mr Malfoy being a civil servant, Bluma knew that he was a) corrupt, b) greedy and c) power-hungry. 

Although Bluma was not in agreement to some of Professor Dumbledore’s view on magic, he was responsible for the safety of the children in the castle, and therefore Bluma wrote a letter to Professor Dumbledore, warning  him to be on the lookout for plots. Bluma told him that t he Malfoy house elf visited  them and warned them of a ‘ terrible’ and ‘horrible’  plot in Hogwarts, but was not allowed to say more. 

Bluma suddenly got letters from some of her friends. It seemed that Dobby had agreed on letting her go to Hogwarts. 


	9. Catalina

Hermione was absolutely furious that Bluma wanted to take her on a tour of Knocturn alley. After all, it was a) dangerous and b) probably illegal, only to be stopped at Bluma’s remark that she was going to go anyways, and two people would be safer than her going alone. This is how Hermione ended up in Knocturn alley, clutched to Bluma’s arm.

It was quite nice to see Bluma so alive.

“And here is Catalina, she sells really tasty meat pies.” Bluma commented

After going through various alleyways, Hermione finally began to feel relaxed, before suddenly stiffening. People were following them.

“Bluma” Hermione hissed.

“Yes?”

“We’re being followed.”

But the conversation was cut short by some thugs appearing on the street. They were dressed in rags, and held half-broken wands in their hands, and knives in their other hands. One was a bit drunk, while a thug at the back had his eyes rolling all around the place. The lead guard had a cigar in his mouth and his knife pointed at them. However, to Bluma, who could sense them, they felt distinctly cold. They were murderers, who did not hesitate to kill innocents.

“Money or your life, kids. You don’t belong here.” - He stated

Bluma didn’t even blink and continued walking, completely ignoring them.

“Bluma, what the hell are you doing? They are dangerous, just look at those knives”

“Knives? That’s not a knife. This is.” and with that Bluma pulled an enormous _Tachi_ sword from her back. The blade looked quite long on Bluma, and a spidery pattern adorned the grip. A small gold, ornate circular cross-guard was visible to Hermione. The blade was slightly curved, and Bluma held it in her two hands, while taking a firm stance on the ground. The sword was quite top-heavy, and Bluma held it close to her, but ready to extend so that she didn’t tire from the weight.

Bluma launched herself at them, to try to kill them, but her sword suddenly stopped moving. Looking up, Catalina held Bluma’s _Tachi_ in her iron grip, not letting it move, while Catalina had her own _tant_ _ō_ dagger to the thug’s throat. A couple of drops dripped down Bluma’s _Tachi_ onto the ground.

“Catalina...”

“No more killing. You, I suggest you go. NOW!” Catalina shouted to the thugs. The thugs started edging away slowly, before running off.

Suddenly, Catalina looked much older and wiser. “It is not wise to kill, Bluma, without reason, as the boundary that defines us from them gets diffused. Please think on it.” She said before walking away.

“Bluma, where did you get that sword?”

“Oh, I always carry it when I go to Knocturn alley. I just hide it, but make sure I can grab it quickly.”

“Oh, well… Is the danger over?”

“What danger? Those druggies wouldn’t know up from down, much less pose a threat to us. Even if I didn’t have this sword, you could always just levitate them up, up, up and drop them. Or hang them from a noose.”

“… Sure” Hermione said, a bit disbelievingly.

Bluma and Hermione got back safely to the other alleys. Bluma bought all her books second-hand, in an effort to reduce her waste. The books looked mostly fine, and some had notes written on the margins. Hermione, on the other hand chose to buy herself new books. They met up with Hermione’s parents for lunch at Manticlaw alley, to the right of Diagon alley.

The book-list contained many different books from some author called Gilderoy Lochart. Although Hermione wanted to buy all his books, Bluma convinced her not to, by pointing out that they were nothing but fiction and advertisements/commercials for products.

“Hermione. Think. What should a Defense textbook contain?”

“Spells, strategies, maybe ways of dealing with some dangerous creatures”

“Well, does a hair commercial belong in a non-fiction textbook? Does Gilderoy’s favourite colour belong in a textbook? Unless it’s his biography, and therefore not a _Defense_ textbook, NO.”

“But, why are the books in the book-list then?”

“It’s for financial reasons. Gilderoy Lochart probably bribed the new teacher to increase his sales. There is no other reason to include this trash in anyways.”

“But, a teacher wouldn’t do that.”

“A teacher is human, just like me and you. They have their own beliefs, values and ambitions. Being a teacher does not make them better or worse.”

“...That surprisingly makes sense.”

The 1st of september started by finishing up their packing, for Hermione and Bluma. The journey to King’s Cross was squished as always in the little sedan car. Bluma’s teeth ached a bit from the torture of her teeth by Hermione’s parents. Bluma never knew that brushing her teeth was so important, until they psychologically tortured Bluma by showing pictures of people’s teeth filled with holes and canneries. Bluma promised them that she would brush her teeth after every meal, as she did not want to end up as those patients, tied up to the chair, with them holding out drills in their hands.

Hermione and Bluma arrived a bit later than usual, when students were already boarding the Hogwarts Express. Going towards the back of the train, they found an almost empty compared except for some little blond girl, likely a first year. She wore star-shaped spectacles with radish earrings. Her wand was stuck above her earlobe like a pencil, and she was reading a newspaper. Upside-down.

“Hello, may we sit here?”

“Hello Bluma Schulz, Hermione Granger. Yes you may.” Bluma stumbled and sharply turned her head towards the girl.

“How do you know my name?” Bluma demanded

“You were in an article in the Quibber, didn’t you know, for inventing a cure for the tummy ache.”

“The Quibber?” blinked Bluma, before asking

“Yes, my dad owns the newspaper. I must ask though, how did you ward off the nargles so effectively?”

“… Sorry, but I don’t understand what are nargles.”

It turns out Luna, their new friend was more than happy to educate them on the unseen creatures. Hermione remained sceptical until Bluma pointed that the human body contained many more bacteria and other organisms than the body’s own cells. If that was true, what was to say that there didn’t exist other organisms similar to the ones Luna was describing?

The sorting went almost exactly as last year, and Luna made it to Ravenclaw to sit with Hermione and Bluma.

Bluma continued to try to practice her wandless magic, all while teaching it to Hermione. Surprisingly, Luna picked up and learnt wandless magic faster than them, and used it to carry her books around. Luna’s creatures continued to make their way into her conversations, and while Bluma and Hermione tried devising an experiment to support or unsupport their existence, Luna remained convinced that they would behave differently under observation. Surprisingly, this sounded very similar to parts of quantum mechanics. For Luna’s birthday, Bluma sent her a couple of books on physics and quantum mechanics.

Apparently, the fictional author Gilderoy Lochart was their new teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he was extremely competent as a public speaker and novel writer, neither of which were the topic of the class. Bluma and Hermione read their books in the back, with Bluma putting up a slight notice-me-not ward, to stop him from annoying them.

Bluma was dragged by Hermione and Luna to attend a ‘death-day’ party. Apparently, it was an ‘educational’ experience, and ‘a good place to be’. The food was all rotten and there were a couple of terrible stenches coming from them. However, the question remained: what were ghosts? Ghosts could think for themselves and could remember a limited number of information. They appeared to not question their own existence or their mortality (or lack of). They appeared immaterial and could pass through solid objects. No methods existed of stopping the ghosts, but they needed to live in areas of high magic field strength. This could be a method of learning about how the magic field interacts with other energy fields.

Going back from the death-day party, Bluma heard a hissing noise.

“ _Rip Tear Kill... Hungry for sssso long”_

“What? Who said that?”

“Who said what?”

“I heard some hissing from the the roof. Do you think the nargles are attacking?”

The trio cautiously followed the sound, with Bluma casting some protective charms on her friends. They came across the hall opposite Murtyle’s bathroom, which was flooded with water. On the wall was a sentence, written in blood.

“ _The chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.”_ and a cat, Mrs Norris, upon closer inspection hang next to it. 

S uddenly, they heard a rumble of feet and chattery voices. Thinking quickly, Bluma yelled for them to stop and get a teacher. Upon not hearing her demands, Bluma started hexing them  _en masse._ That made them listen. 

“MY CAT” shouted Mr Filch. “What happened to my cat?” 

“YOU” he pointed at Bluma, shaking and red in the face. “You killed her. I’ll make you pay...”

H owever, he was delayed by the arrival of Professor Dumbledore,  who took the cat and motioned for them to follow them. 

“He’s not dead.” said Bluma, breaking the silence, to which remark made Professor Dumbledore sharply turn his head at her.

“I agree, he is not dead, merely petrified.”

“They petrified my cat, then. They were at the scene of the crime.”

“This is very dark magic. No second year could have done this.”

However, Bluma had encountered superior methods of detecting dark magic in her research, and therefore started muttering some diagnostics at Mrs Norris, which confirmed what Professor Dumbledore had said. Yes, she was petrified and Yes by dark magic, but they didn’t tell Bluma anything else.  Almost all spells leave residues on whatever they were cast on, most likely due to the imperfect converting of magical energy into the other types of energy necessary for the spell to function. Although after a short while, the residue would be indistinguishable from background radiation, it was a useful tool to finding or diagnosing cursed objects.

Normally the diagnostic spells would identify exactly the signature of the curse used, which could be used to identify and even reverse-engineer a curse. The cat had none of them. Professor Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at all the diagnostic spells that Bluma knew. It wasn’t every day that a second year knew an obscure diagnostic spell only found in a book written in Latin and outlawed several centuries ago. He chose not to comment on her dedication to solving the riddle. Well, if it wasn’t a curse, could it have been something else? There were some muggle legends about Medusa that could petrify people, having snakes in her head. Is is possible that an animal petrified Mrs Norris?  That thought bore more investigating. Bluma would have to pay a long visit to the libraries, both at Hogwarts and outside to deduct the culprit. 

Using the _nisi notitia animalia_ charm, which Bluma had discovered in her travels, gave Mr Filch’s a stunning discovery. 

“No _wizard or witch_ could have done this. This energy signature does not match a human one, at all. This was the work of some animal or creature. The question is, which animal can petrify?”

“How did you come to that conclusion, my boy?” asked Professor Dumbledore, surprised at this new information bought to light.

“Oh. Perform the _nisi notitia animalia_ charm. I believe the wand motion is and infinity symbol followed by a circle.”

P erforming the newly-learnt charm, gave him the same answers that Bluma had figured out. The petrifier was, in fact, not human. However, the person who wrote on the wall, definitely was. This meant that an unknown human was controlling an unknown animal entity. Not only that, but they got into the castle too. Either Hogwarts was not safe from outsiders, or he had severely underestimated some of his students or teachers. 

M r Filch had calmed down after Bluma explained that there were various methods of curing  this petrification, the simplest one would be a mandrake potion; some of which were already growing in Herbology class. 

Bluma and Hermione finally left after Professor Dumbledore promised them that he would continue investigating and monitoring the situation.  Reluctantly, they left, promising each other that they would research about petrifying animals the next day. 


	10. Light-sensitive

“Hello Harry, mind if I take a picture?” said an exited little voice. Looking downwards, Bluma saw a tiny blond kid with a huge analogue camera, jumping on his feet.   
“The heck? No, you cannot take pictures of me, however, I can take a picture of you, if you want.”  
“Oh. that’s fine. My dad’s a milkman, and it was so exciting to come here, don’t you think? Anyways, thanks.” That conversation went well, until the novel writer Professor Lochart came in.   
“Oho. Are we handing out autographs? Well, let me tell you...” he was interrupted by a Bluma pointing a finger behind him, face ashen with horror. Professor Lochart turned around, only to see nothing out of the ordinary. Turning back to try to talk to Bluma, he was met with empty air. Both Bluma and the blond kid ran off. 

Researching historical archives gave Bluma and Hermione little information about the elusive chamber of secrets, and the only reference was more of a myth than concrete evidence. Even Professor Flitwick did not know more than the myth of Salazar Slytherin’s secret monster, in which Salazar Slytherin apparently created a ‘secret chamber’ in which he stored a ‘terrible monster’ to rid the school of the unpure, although Bluma doubted that part was true, as that discrimination was probably introduced afterwards. However, it did at least support Bluma’s discovery that an unkown non-human entity petrified the cat. 

The question remained, what could cause petrifications? While Hermione was researching different animal species, Bluma started working on reverse-engineering the petrification. Mr Filch kindly allowed her to perform some non-invasive spells on Mrs Norris, provided that Bluma would try to find a method of curing her. 

Bluma’s breakfast was interrupted by a fluttering piece of parchment gently flying towards her. After sensing nothing hostile from it, she opened the note which read.  
“Please come up to the hospital wing after Breakfast. Regards, Albus Dumbledore.”  
After finishing breakfast, Bluma along with Hermione went up to the infirmary, which had the door inconveniently locked. Knocking on the door made Professor Dumbledore wandlessly unlock the door, motioning for them to enter. 

On a white bed lay a student, a familiar blond, whom Bluma had seen several days ago. His hands were clutched around a camera, and his expression was terrified, but stiff. The boy was a bit pale, as if frozen and now lay a bit cold. 

“Very glad of you to join us” Started Professor Dumbledore. “I found this boy last night, on the way to the kitchen. He is petrified just as the cat was. Can you see if you can get some more information? Now that a student has been petrified, it has become a much more serious matter.”

A student now? This was getting interesting. The diagnostics revealed the same information as the cat, however, he did have a camera…  
Now looking at the camera revealed more information; the film was completely melted, and was now emitting some faint radiation, which was still detectable from the background radiation. The film was apparently a bit burnt due to some foreign magic. In fact, the film had a damage pattern of a mostly clearly-defined circle, although the edges were a bit hazy. However, why was it damaged? Could light-sensitive materials react adversely to the weapon? If so, that could mean that sight was the method of attack. After all, both the boy and the cat had their eyes wide open...

“I could not gleam any more information from the body, however the camera had something quite interesting. The film inside is damaged in a circular pattern with the radius of about 3 mm. Now, let’s see the focus of the camera… The camera was focused on something approximately 2-5 metres in front of the boy. I would need to run some tests, but looking at the focus, zoom and percentage of the sensor damaged, it might be possible to get an idea of how big is the animal’s mechanism. From a rough estimate, I would say that it was about 10cm.”

“Furthermore, the damage was only done on the film, not on anything else, and while it is possible that the weapon only affects that silver compound, my theory is that any light-sensitive compound will be affected. If you notice, both the cat and the boy had their eyes opened and staring in some shock / fear. It could be possible that the weapon mechanism targets the eyes, or more concretely, the light-sensitive elements of the eyes.”

“This is most intriguing. This means the creature is not very small or unseen. The question is how can they move around the school without anyone noticing?”

“I would recommend that we install simple weight measuring runes across the school. A malicious entity would not think to detect them, but we would be able to approximate roughly it’s movement, and possibly have a rudimentary warning system. It would be futile to install light-sensing runes because they could be adversely affected, and be destroyed without giving us the necessary data” Suggested Bluma. “If we draw a map of the school and the animal crosses multiple weight runes, we might be even able to tell it’s speed, and from that calculate it’s place where it hides.”

“Secondly, we should be doing thorough roll calls and roll checks regularly throughout the day, and regularly patrol the areas near the house common rooms. This is, of course, based on the assumption that the malicious entity is a student, but it is the most likely one.”

“A most valuable idea. You can work with our Runes teacher Professor Babbling on your idea. Thank you very much, and bring me up with your progress once you start it. In the meantime, I will schedule a staff meeting to prepare these practices.”

“Will do, Professor”

And with that, Bluma and Hermione became the Hogwarts’ detectives. True to Bluma’s word, she worked with Professor Babbling in creating some simple weight-measuring enchantments and binding them to runes. Hermione was also quick to learn and now contributed greatly to the group. Once the runes were finished, it was a matter of applying them to the castle. The castle was so big that it was really difficult to apply the runes to a sufficient amount all throughout the castle, including entrances and exits. Even after the runes were applied, it was still necessary to regularly check them and record their observations manually, one by one. 

Hermione dragged Bluma to the newly-formed dueling club, much to Bluma’s displeasure. There was a huge crown gathered around a centre stage. Bluma thought this was heretic. Dueling on a stage? This was not some sort of dueling tournament, they were going to learn to defend themselves. Even worse, the supervising teacher was no other than the ‘great’ and ‘esteemed’ Professor Lochart. 

“Come on, Hermione. It’s clear that it is a waste of time. Even you could teach the class better than that novel-writer”  
“Just give him a chance, Bluma. Who knows how he might surprise you?”  
Bluma’s grumbled reply was interrupted by the start of the session.

“Hello. Gather around, gather around. Can everyone hear me?” started Professor Lochart. “Professor Dumbledore has kindly agreed to this little dueling session, and Professor Snape has sportingly agreed to help me. For starters we will have a little demonstration, Professor Snape, if you will.”

Barely into the duel, before Professor Lochart even fired a single spell, Professor Snape disarmed him. Right after, Professor Lochart asked for Bluma to volunteer against some rude blond kid. Draco, was it?  
“Scared Potter?” Asked her opponent, only for her to half-close her eyes as if she was sleeping. The duel began by Draco shooting some spells, which were lazily blocked even without waving her wand nor saying an incantation. Bluma sent a sleeping charm to the boy, who instantly fell asleep, while the crowed laughed. After being revived by Professor Snape, he conjured some snake, which Bluma instantly vanished. Bluma grew tired of this stupidity, and stunned Professor Lochart, to the dismay and outrage of some people in the crowd. However, Bluma was more used to working with children, and instantly shouted her orders.

“Everyone, find a pair NOW! GO.GO.GO!”  
“Now, 1 person will practice the disarming spell, incantation is “expeliarmus” with no wand movement. The second person will block, incantation is “protego”. Well, what are you waiting for? START!”  
However, Bluma didn’t have time to supervise the kids, and left it up to Professor Snape to continue, who was more than happy to do so. Apparently he had a great interest in Dueling and defense, and couldn’t wait to further his interests. 

All of Bluma, Hermione and Professor Babbling’s efforts bore fruit when another student was petrified, this time not only a student but a ghost as well. The student was also targeted, but analysing the trajectory revealed that Justin, now petrified, saw it through the ghost. It was revealed that Collin was petrified through his camera, and Justin through the ghost… Could it be a pattern? In any case, it the weapon worked on sight, would a blindfold be effective against it? It was possible to use some hearing amplifying spells to get an understanding of the general area, and duelists frequently heard the sound of the spell when it was impossible for them to see. Bluma started to practice a bit walking in a blindfold, trying to sense her surroundings. 

Manually searching through each weight rune revealed that only one was activated; quite close to where the body was found. Apparently the weight measured 3 tonnes, and was activated twice. This implied that the animal came for the body and then left. But, what animal could be so big and move around Hogwarts? After her conclusion, Bluma started to be glued to Hermione’s side, never letting her out of her eyesight. 

Bluma and Hermione were once again helping out Hagrid later at night when they saw some figures moving towards them. Professor Dumbledore was at the front with the most shiny costume Bluma had seen to date. Behind him walked a short and plump middle-aged man with a green cap.   
“Hello, Prof’sr Dumbl’dore, how can I help ya?” asked Hagrid, but it was the plump man who answered.  
“We have been hearing about terrible things going at Hogwarts, yes, terrible things, and the Ministry has decided to act. We have to be seen doing something, you understand. That’s why you are hereby under arrest...”

“Hey, wait a minute. Who the hell do you think you are to randomly arrest people?” interrupted Bluma.  
“Ah, Mr Potter. I am the Minister of Magic, and it is necessary for the Ministry to arrest Mr Hagrid, I’m sure you understand.”  
“So what if you’re the Minister? The Ministry of Magic is the legislative branch, not the judicial branch. You can’t enforce the law. That’s what the Aurors are for. You are clearly breaching the powers set. You can, however, ask the Aurors to investigate, and then only they would be allowed to press charges and whatnot.”  
“But I am the Minister of Magic. It is withing my power to detain him. Imagine the bad press we will get if we don’t do something.”  
“I couldn’t care less, and do expect a formal inquiry and a press statement about today. Who knows how many people you might have illegally locked up?”  
“Now, my boy, surely it won’t come to that” pleaded the man.  
“It will if you don’t leave right now” demanded Bluma with a deadening glare. The Minister quickly exited the conversation, mumbling about some excuse and wondering how to appear to do something. 

A few weeks later, Professor Dumbledore got fired by the board of governors, although Bluma doubted that he would be permanently removed from Hogwarts, as he had too much political pull. However, Bluma regularly kept in touch with him though Professor Babbling, informing him of their progress. Hermione had modified the enchantments on the stones to automatically sound an alarm which said to close your eyes, if it detected a heavy weight. Could the entity try to force the person to open the victim’s eyes? Of course, but it would give them much more information on who exactly is the entity, as the entity would leave their magical signature, finger-prints, DNA and possibly other data to identify them. The entity had not yet made any attacks, and it was only a waiting game.


End file.
